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COPVRiGHT BEPOSm 



MEETING THE MASTER 



EVERYDAY LIFE SERIES 

The Christian According to Paul: John T. Faris 
Psalms of the Social Life: Cleland B. McAfee 
The Many Sided David: Philip E. Howard 
Meeting the Master: Ozora S. Davis 

Other volumes to be announced later 






EVERYDAY LIFE SERIES 



Meeting the Master 



OZORA S. DAVIS 
Author of "Using the Bible in Public Address" 



12'4 East 28th Street, New York 
1917 






Copyright, 1017, by 

The International Committee of 

Young Men's Christian Associations 



JUN 30 1917 



The Bible Text used in this volume is taken from the American Standard 
Edition of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, 
and is used by permission. 

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



>CI.A467677 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

I. Jesus and John the Baptist i 

II. Jesus and the Woman of Samaria 13 

III. Jesus and Matthew 24 

IV. Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler 36 

V. Jesus and Nicodemus 47 

VI. Jesus and Two Sick Men 58 

VII. Jesus and Simon Peter 70 

VIII. Jesus at the House of Simon 8s 

IX. Jesus at Home in Bethany d 94 

X. Jesus and the Hungry Crowd 107 

XL Jesus and Pilate 118 

XII. Jesus and the Group at the Cross 131 

XIII. Jesus the Man and the Master 142 



CHAPTER I 

Jesus and John the Baptist 

The following studies are designed to show the char- 
acter of Jesus and the practical value of certain of his teach- 
ings, as these are revealed through the personal relations 
which the Master bore to individuals whom he met in his daily 
life. Character is revealed and developed in the personal 
reactions of common life more effectively than in any other 
way. Therefore one of the surest methods by which to gain 
an accurate idea of Jesus is to study the way in which he 
entered into intimate relations with those around him. Jesus 
moved through a real world of men and things ; he was flesh 
and blood with his disciples and his antagonists. Each person 
whom he met was in some way a foil, bringing out his own 
purpose and character. When we see him in these collisions 
of thought and action, we are able to understand him. 

Brief Outline Sketches are furnished with each chapter. 
These are such rough cartoons or preliminary drawings as an 
artist might make before painting a picture. A few bold 
strokes are indicated ; the student will make his own com- 
pleted study from these outlines. 



DAILY READINGS 
First Week, First Day: "The Desert Preacher" 

And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching 
in the wilderness of Judsea, saying, Repent ye; for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was 
spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Make ye ready the way of the Lord, 
Make his paths straight. 



[1-2] MEETING THE MASTER 

Now John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and 
a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts 
and wild honey. Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and 
all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan; 
and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, con- 
fessing their sins, — Matt. 3: 1-6. 

John the Baptist is a challenging figure. He looms in our 
imagination. He lives in the desert, in his rough clothing, 
eating his simple food, at home with the rocks and the stars 
and the rugged sincerities of nature. He is no dandy from 
the towns, no ladies' man, showing at his best in parlors and 
at banquets. His skin ;s brown, his muscles are firm, he is 
not afraid of the rain. 

And his message matches his external appearance. It is 
full of rugged sincerity, short, snappy, searching. It digs 
to the roots of both personal and natural problems. It throws 
sin into its red glare of disaster. John calls things by their 
right names : he does not side-step ; he does not obscure the 
truth. He throws one burning word at his hearers: "Repent" 
He makes it an urgent matter. It cannot be put off to a con- 
venient time; every man must square his life up to the de- 
mand of a righteous God and he must do it now. 

And the message gains in dignity and grips with new power 
when we notice that the man has forgotten himself. He calls 
himself simply a Voice and a Way-maker. He, John, may be 
forgotten ; but the great Cause is on its way. "God buries 
his workmen, but carries on his work." John does not make 
us conscious of himself; he only makes us aware of something 
most vital and urgent, driving forward, getting the road ready 
for something still greater to come. 

Has John a word for us in these bustling times? Have we 
ever considered what it means literally to use ourselves just 
for building a way for the Kingdom? 



First Week, Second Day: "A Personal Conse- 
cration" 

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, 
to be baptized of him. But John would have hindered 
him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest 
thou to me? But Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer 



JESUS AXD JOHX THE BAPTIST [I-2] 

it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. 
Then he suffereth him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, 
went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens 
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God de- 
scending as a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice 
out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in 
whom I am well pleased. — Matt. 3: 13-17. 

This was Jesus' public consecration of himself to the work 
which he was to do in the world. His baptism could not have 
involved the confession of sin and the reception of forgive- 
ness, for which it stood in the case of the men whose con- 
science had been stung into response by John's message. Jesus 
did not hesitate to keep all the outward forms of the spiritual 
life, as they were observed at the time. He went regularly 
to the synagogue, he observed the times of prayer, he sent a 
man whom he had cured to the priest in proper form. Jesus 
was not careless or contemptuous of the forms of religion. 
He did not come to destroy them, but to fill them with a new 
life and spirit. His example gives no warrant or comfort 
to those who say that formal expressions of religion are 
unnecessary. 

This experience of Jesus is similar to that through which 
we pass when we ''join the church" or are "confirmed" or are 
'"baptized." It is like that act by which at any time we 
express in a public way the purpose to give ourselves to a 
life of personal service to God. Jesus was ready to stand 
among his fellows and take upon himself a solemn consecra- 
tion to a life of service to God and to his fellowmen. 

Sometimes we are told that such consecrations are not 
necessary and, in general, hardly desirable. Of course, these 
experiences occasionally foster sham and cant ; and the 
present hatred of hypocrisy is very wholesome : but surely 
there could be no greater moment in the life of a sincere 
and unselfish man than that in which he commits his life 
to the service of a great cause. There is nothing to be 
ashamed oi in standing before his fellows personally to 
assume the highest duty and to pledge himself to the holiest 
of all friendship. When things go badly and work drags, it 
helps tremendously to remember the sacred hour of consecra- 
tion. Your public acceptance of Christ as Lord has helped 
you : have you gained from it all that might have been pos- 
sible? 



[1-3] MEETING THE MASTER 

First Week, Third Day: "When Men are Offered 
Crowns" 

And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent 
unto him from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, 
Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; and 
he confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, 
What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. 
Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. They said 
therefore unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an 
answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thy- 
self? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilder- 
ness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah 
the prophet. And they had been sent from the Pharisees. 
And they asked him, and said unto him, Why then bap- 
tizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, neither Elijah, 
neither the prophet? John answered them, saying, I bap- 
tize in water: in the midst of you standeth one whom ye 
know not, even he that cometh after me, the latchet of 
whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose. — John i: 19-27. 

John knew what the people were expecting their Messiah to 
do. Their patriotism was like tinder, waiting only for the 
spark of a great battle-cry and a leader, in order to break into 
a flame of revolution which should burn the Romans out of 
Palestine. 

John also knew what it would cost him to fail to meet this 
popular demand. He must have had ambition ; without it 
there would be no deep joy in life. But the way in which we 
behave when men offer us crowns is the test of the strength 
of the soul. 

John knew, too, that the deepest needs of the nation could 
not be served by him, but that they must be satisfied by Jesus. 
While Jesus was living among them, the people did not 
appreciate this ; nor do we fully understand it even now. But 
John was clear in his vision on this point. So he met the test 
of being offered a crown and never swerved in his loyalty to 
his own life purpose and to his Master. 

The secret of John's steadfastness and clarity of moral vision 
is due to the fact that he defined his life with reference to 
Jesus and His Cause. This does not mean that he had no 
work of his own to do. We could not get on, unless we could 
have a clear idea of certain work of our own which we must 
do with our might. To plan our life in the light of alle- 

4 



JESUS AXD JOHX THE BAPTIST [I-4] 

giance to Jesus does not mean that it has no character or 
direction of its own. John's life took on a real significance 
only when he had related it to the greater mission of his 
Master. Precision of aim is derived from the 'clearness and 
worth of the objective. Steadiness also comes from the sense 
of a clear purpose. When headed toward a high end, men 
will not go to pieces when they are tested by the severe strain 
of personal ambition. Have you denned the objective of your 
life in reference to Christ and his purpose? Is your life 
really making the way ready for greater achievements by those 
who are to come after you? 

First Week, Fourth Day: "The Index Finger" 

On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and 
saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the 
sin of the world! — John 1: 29. 

The index finger is one of our most common and useful 
symbols. It points out an object to an inquirer. John the 
Baptist is the index finger, pointing his friends to the one 
object about which their love and loyalty ought to center. 
John did not gather a school of pupils to receive and extend 
his teaching ; he did not write books to expound his message ; 
he did not gather his friends into an institution which should 
perpetuate his work. He pointed those who followed him to 
Christ and he gave his testimonv that Jesus was the Son of 
God. 

This does not mean that there should be no teachers or theo- 
logians or founders of institutions today; but it does indicate 
the fact that the great work of any person is to be the index 
finger, pointing out Christ as the Saviour of the world. But 
just what do we mean by pointing others to Christ? In the 
case of John, it involved two large considerations. 

First, he had himself a clear conviction based upon expe- 
rience that Jesus was the Son of God, to whom the personal 
loyalty of His disciples was due. If he had not been sure 
of this he could not have spoken with such certain accent. 

Second, he established warm and frank personal relations 
with his friends and then he told them of Jesus the Sin-Bearer. 
John undertook what is now commonly known as "personal 
evangelism." 



[1-5] MEETING THE MASTER 

We must revive our fundamental convictions of the reality 
of Christ through fresh experience with him. Then we must 
point out the Master to others as Saviour of the world. The 
experience without the service may be only a selfish spiritual 
joy; the service without the deepened experience may be only 
a formal and barren religious act. What can we do to deepen 
our convictions about Jesus through experience? How can 
we make more personal contacts with others, for the purpose 
of leading them to Christ? 

First Week, Fifth Day : "The Rising Sun and the 
Waning Star" 

There arose therefore a questioning on the part of 
John's disciples with a Jew about purifying. And they 
came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with 
thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, 
behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John 
answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it 
have been given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me 
witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am 
sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: 
but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth 
him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: 
this my joy therefore is made full. He must increase, but 
I must decrease.— John 3: 25-30. 

The question which John's disciples were debating with a 
Jew is without meaning to us today; but it was a matter of 
vital concern at that time. Religion consisted mainly in cere- 
monies. The proper way in which to accomplish purification 
was a burning question. So the ideas of religion change ! 
We must seek for the truth that lies beneath the discarded 
words and forms of the past. The right relation of the soul 
to God is still supremely important; we do not think that it 
can be determined simply by a ceremony. It is life that counts. 

As the sun rises in the morning, the stars disappear in the 
brighter light. John rose like a brilliant morning star ; his 
radiance fell upon a bewildered and somber world. Then 
came the growing sunlight from the life and words of Jesus. 
John retreated into obscurity, and Jesus advanced into the 
favor of the people. He increased; John decreased. 

How could there be a more biting test of the pure metal 

6 



JESUS AXD JOHX THE BAPTIST [1-6] 

of a man's life than this? If there had been the least envy 
or jealousy in John's character, it would have come to the 
front at this time. But John was great enough to see 
another leader assume control of the cause that he loved, and 
not permit his heart to harbor the least envy. Sometimes it 
. takes more real devotion to surrender personal leadership to 
another than it would to make almost any sacrifice in the 
position of command. 

Think of the causes in which you are interested. How 
ready are you to surrender leadership and put your pride in 
your pocket? When the time comes for you to resign the 
presidency, are you willing to work with the same zeal on a 
committee? Have you swept the last shred of envy out of 
the chambers of your soul? 

First Week, Sixth Day: "What Ye Hear and See" 

Now when John heard in the prison the works of the 
Christ, .he sent by his disciples and said unto him, Art 
thou he that cometh,, or look we for another? And Jesus 
answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things 
which ye hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and 
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, 
and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tid- 
ings preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever 
shall find no occasion of stumbling in me. — Matt, n: 2-6. 

Here is John in prison, kept there unjustly,, waiting for 
trial, for almost certain death, and eager for news of the 
Cause. A few rumors, often conflicting and always meager, 
sift in through the door of his dungeon. One says that the 
people are becoming convinced that Jesus is the great ex- 
pected Leader ; another dashes John's kindling hopes by 
reporting that none except a few fishermen have followed 
him and that he is discredited by all the officials in the church. 
One day it is said within John's hearing that Jesus of Xaz- 
areth is healing all kinds of disease and that all the signs 
point toward his fulfilment of the promises concerning the 
Messiah; the next day there is a report that opposition is 
growing ai%d that the Jerusalem authorities are likely to take 
vigorous action against Jesus soon. 

And meantime John feels that he must know the truth. He 
has pointed out Jesus as the Messiah. Was he mistaken? Is 

7 



[1-7] MEETING THE MASTER 

his whole life a failure? Or does he need only to wait and be 
patient until the truth is finally known? "Hope deferred 
maketh the heart sick." Anything can be borne more easily 
than uncertainty. 

So John sends on his disciples to find out the truth. It is 
John's question that they ask. We can almost hear its 
trembling eagerness. It calls for an immediate and positive 
reply. 

Was the answer satisfactory to John? And does the beati- 
tude really mean something to us? 

First Week, Seventh Day: "Greater than the 
Greatest" 

Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of 
women there hath not arisen a greater than John the 
Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven 
is greater than he. — Matt, n: n. 

At first glance the meaning of Jesus' tribute to John is not 
wholly clear. The first clause is plain enough. Jesus says 
explicitly that no man ever has lived who is greater than John. 
This refers, of course, to the nobility of his character and 
the real worth of the work that John did. Is this true? 

The work of Moses seems incomparably greater. In the 
spiritual history of mankind certainly the character of the 
great, first man of faith, Abraham, seems more significant. 
But the work of all religious leaders must be tested with 
reference to its relation to Christ ; and John had the privilege 
of being the immediate announcer of Jesus as the Christ. In 
this respect, therefore, he was the greatest of men who lived 
before Him. And the self-forgetfulness and courage that 
we have noted in him also make John a great soul. 

But Jesus adds the statement that the humblest member of 
the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. In what respect 
is this true? John was like all those who lived before him in 
that he did not have the privilege of knowing the Father in 
the light of the revelation which Jesus gave us. He did not 
have the joy of seeing defined in the life of Jesu§ the char- 
acteristics of that highest human life which is set before us 
there as our goal. And John never had the opportunity / of 
coming into contact with the creative energies which make 



JESUS AXD JOHX THE BAPTIST [I-c] 

the soul new through faith in a divine Redeemer. So it is 
true that the lowliest member of the kingdom that Christ 
established is greater than the greatest of the men who lived 
under the covenant of law and ceremonies. Have we ever 
compared our privileges as Christians with those of even the 
most favored and strongest souls before Christ came into the 
world? 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

The character of John is clearly outlined in the passages 
which we have studied, although they are not given to details. 
The Master's Way-maker is a free spirit, living near to 
nature and yet knowing the moral conditions of the time. He 
has a strong body behind him; he has not broken the edge of 
his manhood by early vice. We get the sense of the funda- 
mental human traits of courage and strength from the first 
look at him: fuller acquaintance strengthens the impression. 

John is fearless and practical in his public message and his 
personal interviews. In an age of subtle arguments and hair- 
splitting he tells the truth in plain terms. So he wins the 
respect of men, even when he cuts to the quick in dealing 
with their sins. Xo ethical leader can be effective unless he 
is as frank and fearless as John. In the end even his enemies 
honor him for his fearlessness. Note that John's honesty 
never took the form of denunciation in a negative spirit. He 
revealed their sins to men,, in order that he might help them 
to be rid of them. 

The worthy causes that have been wrecked by the struggle 
for personal leadership litter the path of human progress. 
Individual ambition appears again and again at the critical 
moment in a conflict between good and evil, and the right 
cause is lost because a man could not subordinate his personal 
desires to his ideal. How big John looks from this distance ! 
He is ready to be forgotten, if only the great movement which 
he has ushered in may go on to success. With the centuries 
to give us perspective, it seems that this ought to have been 
a surrender relatively easy to make. But John had no such 
advantage in reaching his decision. He made the great sur- 
render with no knowledge of its results to help him. It was a 
glorious surrender of personal prestige. 

The only reason why John was able to give up his personal 
leadership with such serene faith was because he had put 

9 



[I-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

the Coming One at the very center of all his conscious 
activity. He did not think or plan or act in reference to him- 
self. This Jesus who was to save mankind was the supreme 
fact in all his estimates of responsibility and duty. It is not 
using mere formal religious terms when we describe John 
as a "wholly consecrated" man. Our ideas of consecration 
have gathered too much around public oral expressions of 
purpose. But John did the real thing. He did not talk about 
it ; he went straight to work and did it. His consecration was 
not an act to be boasted of. It was quiet and thorough. But 
it is the supreme glory of his life. 

Then one day down to the shore comes a carpenter from 
the village of Nazareth. The two face each other. How 
the depths of Jesus' soul must have responded to the heroic 
figure and stirring message of the great Way-maker ! Two 
plain men, as the world judges, faced each other: the one 
proclaimed the promise of a world's redemption, the other 
brought in his hands the fulfilment. John caught up in him- 
self the best of his race, he embodied the burning desire for 
truth and righteousness of its greatest heroes ; and Jesus, we 
believe, gladly and proudly received from his Forerunner the 
commission to go forward to realize all that John had thought 
or dreamed. 

With what quiet majesty Jesus steps forth to give himself 
up in an act of public dedication to a life of unselfish service ! 
Xo stir was made in Jerusalem the day the young Teacher 
from Nazareth came to the Jordan to devote himself to his 
Father in heaven. He was thoroughly his own master. He 
announced no program ; he made no claims. But the universe 
itself felt the significance of his decision that day. A new 
base line was run from which we may survey the moral and 
spiritual world with confidence. It is an example of the fact 
that the greatest forces are not noisy. 

Then also began a new era of gladness in human life. The 
figure of the bridegroom, with whom his friends rejoice, is 
one of the most accurate descriptions of Jesus that we have. 
Jesus is the creator of the deepest joy that we ever can know. 
Nothing does Jesus greater injustice than to represent him as 
renouncing gloomily all that makes life glad or calling upon 
his disciples to do so. The passing amusement and the fool- 
ish jest are never associated with Jesus; but he was at home 
with all wholesome human joys, at weddings and banquets, 



JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST [I-c] 

with the crowd and among his friends. Art has put a halo 
around his head ; but no nimbus separated him from the 
happy life of his human comrades. 

At the very outset., however, the names that Jesus accepts 
as his due are the most sacred that could be given him. He 
is the Lamb of God and the Son of God. He is wholly one 
with his associates in daily life; but he is also apart from 
them in the majesty of his nature and the divine quality of 
his character. The supreme titles were not given to Jesus at 
the close of his career alone, but also, with great distinct- 
ness and full realization of their meaning, at the beginning of 
his public life. We cannot get our ideas of Jesus correctly 
dehned unless we start with the testimony of John. Undoubt- 
edly both John and Jesus grew into deeper appreciation of 
what the words Son of God meant as the months passed by; 
but they started with this fundamental idea clearly in their 
minds. There was only one spiritual leader in all history 
entitled to bear these names. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 
. STUDY 

1. Who were the forerunners of Luther and Lincoln? What 
was their share in the careers of these men? 

2. How would you put into words that would be understood 
today the idea of John when he said, "Behold, the Lamb 
of God!"? 

3. Can you enumerate the spiritual privileges that we 
possess because Christ came into the world? How can we 
realize these more fully in our everyday life? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

John the Baptist 

1. A free spirit, living near to nature, yet knowing the 
moral conditions of the time. 

2. Fearlessly preaching righteousness, preparing men to 
receive and follow Christ as Master. 

3. Ready to yield his personal leadership when the greater 
Leader should appear and the cause demand it. 

4. Defining his whole life and work in reference to Jesus. 

11 



U-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

5. Dying at last because of his moral loyalty and fear- 
lessness. 

Jesus 

1. Consecrating himself publicly to the life work that he 
had chosen. 

2. Worthy to be pointed out as the Lamb of God and to be 
revered and followed as a personal Master. 

3. A Leader and Comrade in whose presence one feels happy 
and strong, like friends around a bridegroom. 

4. The Helper and Healer of the people in all their varying 
needs. 



12 



CHAPTER II 

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria 

DAILY READINGS 

Second Week, First Day: "A Courteous Request" 

When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had 
heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disci- 
ples than John (although Jesus himself baptized not, but 
his disciples), he left Judaea, and departed again into 
Galilee. And he must needs pass through Samaria. So 
he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to 
the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: 
and Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied 
with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the 
sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw 
water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his 
disciples were gone away into the city to buy food. — 
John 4: 1-8. 

The report that Jesus was making more disciples than John 
was spreading among the people. When the Master learned 
of this he started for Galilee. He was unwilling to have any 
such apparent conflict between himself and John. Note this 
fine exhibition of sensitiveness and loyalty. 

When he and his disciples came near Sychar it was noon, 
intensely hot, and the disciples left Jesus near Jacob's well, 
where undoubtedly there was shade and a place to rest, while 
they went up to the village to buy what was necessary for 
their simple meal. How does this show the instinctive courtesy 
and respect of the disciples in their personal treatment of 
the Master? A true son of his own race, Jesus must have 
been stirred by thoughts of the great heroes of his nation, 
as he sat by the well where of old Jacob used to water his 
flocks. 

When Jesus saw the woman he asked her quietly and cour- 
teously for a drink. This was entirely in accord with the 

13 



[11-2] MEETING THE MASTER 

customs of the time, although it was unusual for a man to talk 
with a woman alone. The picture that we get of Jesus here 
is that of a natural, simple, and gracious man, to whom his 
friends yield the respect that is given spontaneously to one 
whose worth is self-evident. He is weary, thirsty, and sincere 
in his craving for a drink of water. 

But was there not something deeper in his mind as he put 
forward his courteous request? Did he not see in this meeting 
with the woman an opportunity to render a service to her 
deeper, spiritual needs? 

Second Week, Second Day, "The Flame of Race 
Hatred" 

The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How 
is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am 
a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with 
Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou 
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, 
Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and 
he would have given thee living water. The woman 
saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and 
the well is deep: whence then hast thou that living water? 
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the 
well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his 
cattle? — John 4: 9-12. 

The moment Jesus spoke the sentence the quick ear of the 
woman detected his "brogue." He was a Jew. For genera- 
tions Jews and Samaritans had hated each other. They called 
each other hard names ; they spat in each other's faces at the 
slightest provocation. The sound of the hated dialect stirred 
her into rage. Of course, this was not personal. He never 
had injured her; so far as we know they never had met 
before. Yet her people hated his people, and that was enough. 
How does this temper enter into our daily life now? Are 
we tempted to criticize or disparage individuals simply on 
the ground of their race or color? 

Suppose, now, that Jesus had returned hate for hate and 
had "answered back" ! Suppose he had accepted the chal- 
lenge and proceeded to discuss the superiority of the Jews 
and the inferiority of the Samaritans ! On whose level 
would the interview have proceeded? 

14 



JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA [II-3] 

Jesus must arrest her attention, get a point of contact, 
create interest in what he has to say. Therefore he uses the 
appeal beginning: "If thou knewest the gift of God." Catch 
the suggestion of mystery and wonder in this ; note the 
approach to the woman's mind by the path of native curi- 
osity. What hint as to Jesus' skill in teaching does this give? 

Second Week, Third Day: "The Water of Life" 

Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that 
drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever 
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never 
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become 
in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life. The 
woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I 
thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw. — 
John 4: 13-15. 

Jesus wanted to talk with the woman about ruling motives 
and the eternal principles which should guide us in our 
everyday life. Therefore he used the figure of a never-fail- 
ing spring of water, which is even more dependable and useful 
than a well. 

But the woman did not catch the faintest glimmer of what 
Jesus meant. All she could think of was a running spring in 
her yard in the village, which would give her a "corner" on 
the water supply and make her the leading woman in the 
community. 

As the woman earnestly asks Jesus to give her the mate- 
rial blessing which would completely alter her economic situa- 
tion, she uses a phrase which reveals the monotonous char- 
acter of her hard life. In the words, ''come all the way hither 
to draw," one can almost see a reflection of the hot path 
leading down from the village, with the heat waves fairly 
shimmering up from it as it lay in the blazing sunshine of 
noon. Over it she had come and gone so many times with 
hot feet and aching shoulder ! It stood for the daily round 
of drudgery, against which the idea of a cool, bubbling spring 
seemed a benediction indeed. 

So the woman's mind was filled with material ideas alone; 
the pressure of the physical had nearly crowded out all else. 
Someone has said that almost everyone today thinks of simply 
two ideas — the day's job and the night's amusement. How 

15 



[II-4] MEETING THE MASTER 

accurately does this describe the modern situation? And what 
is the danger of material-mindedness on the part of com- 
munity leaders ? 

Therefore Jesus confronts another phase of his problem 
as he seeks to lead the woman to the point where she can 
understand a spiritual truth. He must somehow break 
through the surface of her life, hardened by drudgery and ill- 
will, so that she can appreciate the new purposes and power 
which he desires to bring to her. 

Second Week, Fourth Day: "A White Lie" 

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come 
hither. The woman answered and said unto him, I have 
no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I 
have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and 
he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: this hast 
thou said truly. — John 4: 16-18. 

Jesus now proceeds to break up the soil of the woman's 
life by driving straight through her mind and conscience the 
plow of an uprooting and smashing moral question. The 
trouble with the woman was not simply her materialism and 
commercial ideas. It was her low ethical standard and faulty 
moral practice. Her soul was impure ; that is why she could 
not understand Jesus. She could not appreciate or appropri- 
ate a spiritual ideal until she cleaned up her life. Note how 
John preached the stern message of repentance before he 
pointed men to Christ. It is the pure in heart who see God. 
Repeatedly it appears that men are not kept away from Christ 
because of their doubt or misunderstanding; it is their low 
moral standard and practice that is in the way. 

The purpose of Jesus' sudden change of the subject is clear. 
.He turns the white light upon her moral standard. Then 
she did a foolish thing, although it was most natural for a 
person of her type. She made a statement which could be 
defended as technically true, but which was essentially false 
and deliberately intended to deceive. Thus she put herself 
into the Master's hands. One white lie always calls for 
defense by another which is sure to be a little blacker, until 
exposure is finally inevitable. 

Do you discover a shade of sarcasm in the way in which 
Jesus exposes her falsehood, saying, "in that saidst thou 

16 



JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA [II-5] 

truly"? The woman is now caught in the web of her own 
falsehood. There is no other deceitful statement that she 
can offer. How much sympathy does she deserve? 

Second Week, Fifth Day: "Obscuring the Issue 
but Finding the Truth" 

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou 
art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; 
and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men 
ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe 
me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor 
in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. Ye worship 
that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; 
for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, 
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the 
Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek 
to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that 
worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The 
woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (he 
that is called Christ) : when he is come, he will declare 
unto us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak 
unto thee am he.— John 4: 19-26. 

The woman discloses her cleverness at this point. She 
must either surrender herself to the situation in which she 
has involved herself, or she must turn the subject in some 
way. She instantly decides to obscure the issue by involving 
Jesus in an old, fruitless religious discussion. For genera- 
tions the Jews and Samaritans had debated the question of 
the place where true worship must be carried on. They had 
spilt the thin white blood of religious debate and had arrived 
nowhere, as is inevitably the case in such controversies. Here 
was a chance to throw dust in the air and get rid of the 
subject. 

So she tried to impale him on the horn of a dilemma. He 
met it with consummate skill. Instead of accepting the 
dilemma and saying that God must be worshipped either in 
Jerusalem or in Gerizim, he gave her a reply that was big 
enough to include both. Such an answer disarmed opposition 
and made discussion impossible. 

And now the woman could not help responding to the 
friendly and positive leadership of Jesus. She saw that here 

17 



1 [11-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

was a man whom she could trust. And she was hungry for 
truth; she was eager about the coming Christ. No one in 
the village had suspected this. Perhaps she never would 
have revealed her yearnings if she had not met someone like 
Jesus. 

So to the woman Jesus now affirms without hesitation or 
reserve that he is the Messiah for whom she had hoped and 
for whom the world was waiting. This is the great truth of 
the Incarnation, that God has expressed himself in the terms 
of a human life, in order that men may understand what he 
is and what they ought to be. Have we seen God in the life 
and character of Jems Christ f 

Second Week, Sixth Day: "The Enthusiastic 
Witness" 

And upon this came his disciples; and they marvelled 
that he was speaking with a woman; yet no man said, 
What seekest thou? or, Why speakest thou with her? So 
the woman left her waterpot, and went away into the 
city, and saith to the people, Come, see a man, who told 
me all things that ever I did: can this be the Christ? 
They went out of the city, and were coming to him. — 
John 4: 27-30. 

It is interesting to note the significance of the water jar 
the woman left at the side of the well, as she hurried up 
to the village to tell the people what she had found. That , 
water jar stands for the old task which has been left behind 
for a moment under the inspiration of the new vision of 
truth. The woman will come back to the well some time. 
She will take up the jar again. She will carry her burden 
as she formerly did. But she will carry it with a new spirit. 
Under it there will be the inspiration and strength of a new 
hope and a new vision. She has laid down the burdensome 
work of the moment, in order that it may be resumed by and 
by in a new way. How does the mastery of a great truth 
help us in doing our daily work? 

The verse that describes the woman's arrival in the village 
is full of vivid touches. In the joy of the great discovery, 
she rushes around among the people and tells them that there 
is a man out at the well who has told her everything that 
ever she did. So far as we have a record of the conversation, 

18 



JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA [II-7] 

Jesus had told her only a small part of the things which she 
had done. But to her the discovery was so great and the 
revelation so satisfying that she put it in these over-enthusi- 
astic terms. In what way does Christ reveal us to ourselves? 
Note how she put the matter before the villagers whom she 
found, like true Orientals, not especially busy, and ready to 
hear any item of gossip or information. Do you think she 
asked the question, "Can this be the Christ?" in order to 
start discussion on the problem ; or, having settled the matter 
in her own conviction, did she put the matter in the form of 
a question as the most adroit way of arousing the interest 
of the people? 

Second Week, Seventh Day: "Christ His Own 
Proof" 

And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on 
him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He 
told me all things that ever I did. So when the Samaritans 
came unto him, they besought him to abide with them: 
and he abode there two days. And many more believed 
because of his word; and they said to the woman, Now 
we believe, not because of thy speaking: for we have 
heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the 
Saviour of the world. — John 4: 39-42. 

Race prejudice faded from the minds of the villagers as it 
had from the heart of the woman, when Jesus met them face 
to face. Many believed in him, not because the}* had heard 
the woman's testimony, but because they had come into per- 
sonal relations with Jesus. 

Note, however, the necessity of the woman's work as a 
witness. Unless she had gone to the village and told her 
story, the people would not have met Jesus. She was re- 
sponsible for bringing her neighbors into immediate contact 
with the Master. The result of that relationship might safely 
be left with Jesus himself. As it has often, been put: she 
was responsible for contact, not for conversion. 

The result of Jesus' visit to the village was inevitable. 
Many believed because the}* were convinced by personal ex- 
perience. This is the court of final appeal in the matter of 
Christian decision. Christ produced faith in himself as a 
result of personal relationship to him. Whenever men, 

19 



[II-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

women, and children met Jesus with an open mind and re- 
sponded fairly to his friendship, they believed in his claim 
and he became in truth their Saviour. To know him in 
physical presence is, of course, possible no longer. But the 
principle is unchanged. Spiritual friendship with Christ in- 
evitably results in personal loyalty to him. The only effective 
way in which to convince men of Christ is to bring them to 
accept his invitation to become his friends. The moment 
anyone begins this relation of friendship with Christ by liv- 
ing in his spirit and acting from his motives, he begins to 
discover the divine character of his Master. He goes on 
adding items of certainty until at length he is certain beyond 
the shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the 
world. The only complete proof of Christ's claims is experi- 
ence of Christ himself. 



COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

In this story we find Jesus after a hard journey resting 
at noon beside Jacob's well in the Samaritan country. He 
is tired with the long walk, needing nothing so much as 
relaxation, complete peace for mind and body. As has been 
suggested, he may have found some of that peace in quiet 
thoughts about his great ancestor, Jacob, the fighting and 
sinning but tremendously human patriarch whose striving 
for God won him the glory of giving his name to the whole 
Hebrew race — the children of Israel. 

Then suddenly a mere accident of the road confronts him 
with an alien; of no particular standing and immoral in life, 
one certainly who lived by bread alone, she was hardly an 
ideal companion for that noon-day hour. We cannot imagine 
that Jesus would have chosen such a meeting on the basis 
of mere pleasure. 

But the Master gathers his weary forces together. Here 
is a human problem. He must give his best to her. She 
must not find him weary or unwilling at any cost of personal 
comfort to teach her such truth as her soul needs. 

First of all, she was a Samaritan. The writer of the story 
simply says, "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." 
The races were enough alike to double the normal hatred 
between diverse clans. Somehow or other he must break down 

20 



JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA [Il-c] 

the barrier. His whole bearing must have expressed the very 
finest courtesy, and he strove to roll back the prejudices of 
generations and to meet the woman face to face. 

Of course he knew that he was dealing with a thorough- 
going materialist — she could not otherwise have lived the life 
she did. So he began with her thought, her material way of 
looking at things, and drew her on thence to the things of 
the spirit. 

Then Jesus was obliged to meet the craftiness of her 
clever mind, as she sought to involve him in a fruitless 
doctrinal discussion and thus obscure the moral issue which 
had been raised by him and which she was eager to avoid. 
But again he was not diverted from the straight course that 
he was pursuing as he sought to lead her into the truth. 

Thus Jesus vindicated again his right to the name Teacher. 
He had wonderful power with men as a guide into truth. His 
sense of his own authority was constant; but he did not 
force truth upon unwilling minds. He felt sure of his own 
ground ; but he did not compel anyone to stand where he 
did until they should have had time to find their way surely 
and gradually to his position. 

But the most wonderful thing about this whole story is 
not that he led the woman forward, but hoixj he led her. 
She was an unpromising subject, but he did not offer her 
half a loaf. He called to her dull spiritual senses to respond to 
three of the noblest ideas in religion. She could not come up 
to his standard in a moment, of course; but he was not will- 
ing to leave her with some "just as good" — the best, and that 
alone, he would hold before her then and there. 

Jesus taught the woman the truth that religion does not con- 
sist in ceremonies, but is an inner life that inspires outward 
behavior. The words that seem best to describe the religious 
ideas of the woman are external and material. The correct 
places and the right forms of worship are uppermost in her 
mind. When Jesus has ceased talking with her, she has at 
least caught the vision of a religion based in the reality of 
experience, whose essential content is spiritual relationship 
betwxen persons. This is a great discovery. When we are 
fully confident that the essential factors in religion are 
spiritual verities rather than external acts the basis of a true 
faith is laid. 

Thus if true religion is an inner life, true worship is a 

21 



[II-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

spiritual service. This also was a revelation to the woman. 
She had thought only of the arguments that were commonly 
used to show that the only place where men might find God 
was on her own holy mountain, and in His own especial 
temple. At first glance it seems like a most easy and reason- 
able thing to think in terms of another race or creed. But 
it is most difficult. Dan Crawford entitled one of the great 
missionary books of the generation, -"Thinking Black." By 
this he meant to show that one has to think in the terms of 
the negro in order to understand Africa. The woman could 
think only Samaritan. Jesus knew how to think more than 
Galilean. He taught her to look at a larger world. And 
thus she learned that the real meaning of worship is spiritual 
fellowship. It does not depend upon buildings and altars. 
It consists in spiritual union with God. 

And the last great truth that Jesus disclosed to the woman 
was that he himself was the revelation of God and the Saviour 
of the world. Never lose sight of the fact that the records 
make Jesus claim that he was the divine Redeemer of the 
world and that his most intimate friends believed that he 
had established this claim. This has been a subject for dis- 
cussion through the centuries, but the men who lived closest 
to him were convinced, so that they were ready to die in 
witnessing that Jesus was the Christ who should bring in 
the new age of love and good- will. 

And Jesus convinced those who knew him best that this 
was true, by living among them with such compelling power 
that they could not fail to yield their doubts, if they had any, 
to the proof of his words and character. He did not argue 
about it; he did not try to establish his claim by rules of 
evidence. He simply lived among them ; and the argument 
from his perfect life was invincible. For once a man ap- 
peared on earth, between whose highest claims and whose 
daily life there were no inconsistencies. So the world was 
bound to believe, when once it gave the evidence fair con- 
sideration. And not the least of his personal victories was this 
capture of the soul of the woman at noon by the well. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

i. How large a place has race hatred in the forces that 

22 



JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA [II-cj 

govern our modern life? Give specific examples from Amer- 
ica; how can we aid in solving the problems thus created? 

2. Suggest ways in which a point of contact may be estab- 
lished in trying to present the claim of Christ to : 

a. a high school boy; 

b. a young woman, stenographer in a city office ; 

c. a busy business man ; 

d. a college senior, inclined to be skeptical. 

3. How can physical and material symbols be profitably 
used in the practice of the religious life; for example, the 
formal words of the Lord's Prayer, the church edifice, the 
elements in the sacraments? 

4. How does an immoral life tend to obscure spiritual 
vision? What are some of the essential connections between 
religion and morality? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

The Woman of Samaria 

1. Scornful, sarcastic, and materialistic in temper. 

2. Living an immoral life ; trying to lie out of a moral 
difficulty when trapped. 

3. Clever in her effort to divert Jesus into a useless argu- 
ment. 

4. Longing to know the truth, even when leading a hard 
life. 

5. Becoming an enthusiastic and successful witness for the 
truth when once she had discovered it. t 

Jesus 

1. So self-controlled that he did not return sarcasm or 
scorn in kind. 

2. Discovering and leading forth the best in the woman's 
soul. 

3. Patiently and tactfully guiding the woman's mind until 
she could understand the truth. 

4. Giving positive and comprehensive answers to questions. 

5. Declaring himself to be the Christ of God. 

6. Himself producing final conviction concerning his own 
claimsc 



23 



CHAPTER III 

Jesus and Matthew 

DAILY READINGS 

Third Week, First Day: "A Balanced Life" 

And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the 
multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. . . . 
And straightway he constrained his disciples to enter into 
the boat, and to go before him unto the other side to 
Bethsaida, while he himself sendeth the multitude away. 
And after he had taken leave of them, he departed into 
the mountain to pray. And when even was come, the 
boat was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the 
land. — Mark 2: 13; 6: 45-47. 

We may always be sure that, under normal conditions, 
Jesus will be with the people. He was not content simply 
to have a little group of friends around him; but wherever 
men met for the transaction of their daily business, Jesus 
was likely to be found among them. Capernaum was a busy 
town, and the fishing industry was highly developed. Around 
the wharves and where the small taxes were levied, there 
would always be found many people. When we think of 
Jesus' "preaching," we never associate it with a church or 
an order of service. It was not preaching in the modern sense 
of the word, that is, delivering a formal discourse as a part 
of public worship. The better word for it is teaching. Jesus 
went where the people were and talked with them simply 
about their relations to God and to one another. He made 
the religious life a part of daily conduct, and he brought God 
so near that He can be felt as a personal presence in every- 
day living. There must have been opportunity for question 
and answer in this informal relation between Jesus and the 
people who heard him gladly. It was the natural association 

24 



JESUS AND MATTHEW [III-2] 

of friends, rather than the official connection of priests and 
scribes that marked the work of Jesus as teacher. 

But the Master's intimate connection with the people did 
not so absorb him that he found no time to replenish the 
springs of his life by prayer and quietness. He worked this 
problem out with fine skill. He made a place for the ''retreat 
to fructifying silence," when the pressure became so intense 
that he could not endure it without exhaustion. Jesus knew 
that there must be a time when the bow is unbent, in order 
that its resilience may not be lost. Jesus planned his day's 
work and ordered his life in such a way that spiritual over- 
strain and physical exhaustion did not get the mastery of 
him. The practical meaning of this fact in the life of the 
average overworked American cannot be emphasized too 
strongly. Our interests are so many and so confusing that 
we lose both serenity and power. Jesus did more in three 
short years^than most men do in ten, because he found the 
right adjustment between his contacts with men and his rela- 
tionships with God. 

Third Week, Second Day: "Matthew at the Toll 
Booth" 

And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus 
sitting at the place of toll. — Mark 2: 14. 

The name Matthew is recorded in Matt. 9 : 9. The system 
of taxation in the time of Jesus was open to abominable 
abuses. The taxes were "farmed out" and a publican was 
hated without reserve as a result of the system. The com- 
mon association of the words "publicans and sinners" shows 
how the office filled by Matthew was popularly regarded. 

The immediate way in which Matthew responded to the 
call of Jesus leads us to imagine the preparation that had 
been made for it. The toll booth or tax collector's office 
was naturally located near the shore of the lake, where the 
petty taxes on fish could be laid and collected. Undoubtedly 
the subjects about which Jesus habitually talked with men 
would be discussed quite openly around the booth where 
Matthew must have heard them, and doubtless he bore his 
part in the discussion. 

Probably the day on which Matthew faced the great decis- 

25 



[III-3] MEETING THE MASTER 

ion in his life had dawned like any other in his daily work. 
Undoubtedly he had met the same irritating problems ; it 
may be that he had been criticized and possibly scorned in 
the same way in which he had many times tasted the con- 
tempt of his people. If he had known that it was going to 
be the most significant hour in his life, undoubtedly he would 
have made great preparation for it. He probably would have 
observed it by some special religious act. As it was, however, 
the day of his decision was like other days, and he was found 
at his task doing his ordinary work when the Master called 
him. Looking back over your own life, is not this also true 
in your experience? The supreme force that has come 
quietly into your life came at a moment when you did not 
expect it. Perhaps it was something that you heard in a 
lecture or a sermon. It may have been the silent personal 
influence of some one whose character you honored, and whose 
love you were anxious to possess. It may have come to you 
at the close of a day or in the midst of a task when your 
mind was particularly sensitive to the appeals of the ideal and 
of duty. In some way or other it came, and it found you as \ 
it found Matthew doing the ordinary work of the day. Can 
we not make every task and every hour a time of preparation 
for the deeper knowledge of God's will for us? Is it not 
possible to study, to work, and even to play, hallowing every- 
thing we do by a high and noble intention, so that we shall 
be ready to hear Christ when he calls us to our supreme 
consecration? 

Third Week, Third Day: "The Call and the Con- 
secration" 

And said unto him, Follow me. And he forsook all, 
and rose up and followed him. — Luke 5: 27, 28. 

If Matthew had been thinking of the personal claim of 
Jesus upon his life, it must have been the earnest, hard- 
headed thinking of a business man. Using your imagination, 
write out or state the way in which a practical man like Mat- 
thew must have summed up the claim of Jesus upon his 
personal allegiance and service. Does this throw any light 
upon the way in which Christ might be presented as an object 
of love and friendship to a modern business man? 

26 



JESUS AXD MATTHEW [III-4] 

Two words call for attention in the passage. The first • 
is "forsook." At first glance this seems to be the important 
term. His official position, his salary, his daily duty — all 
these were left suddenly and completely behind in response 
to the imperative call of Jesus. This was taking radical 
action. All the bridges were burned. It looks like renunciation 
of the most thorough-going kind. But this is not all. The 
significant matter is not what Matthew leaves behind, but 
what he is called to enter into. Let us not miss the significance 
of the word "follow." Matthew was not asked to define his 
intellectual attitude toward Jesus as the Christ; but he was 
asked to take upon himself a personal relationship, to enter 
into allegiance to Jesus as his Master, and to change not only 
the spirit but also the task of his daily life. To some of 
us there may be a similar call to enter into a different kind 
of service from that which is engaging us now. To the 
majority, however, the call of Christ is to a doing of the old 
work in a new way. It will be like the life of the Woman of 
Samaria, who undoubtedly still carried the water from the 
well to the village, but who had no longer a heavy heart 
beneath the burden, but went to and fro with a singing life. 

Third Week, Fourth Day: "The Friend of Publi- 
cans and Sinners" 

And Levi made him a great feast in his house: and 
there was a great multitude of publicans and of others 
that were sitting at meat with them. And the Pharisees 
and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, 
Why do ye eat and drink with the publicans and sinners? 
And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are in 
health have no need of a physician; but they that are 
sick. I am not come to call the righteous but sinners 
to repentance. — Luke 5 : 29-32. 

Feasts occupied a large place in the expression of Oriental 
hospitality. Naturally those who were invited were chosen 
because of some sufficient reason on the part of the host. 
Jesus was a frequent guest at these banquets. What aspect 
of his character is revealed by this fact? If he were gloomy 
and a "kill-joy," would he have been invited as he was? 

The trouble that arose at Matthew's feast came from the 

27 



[III-5] MEETING THE MASTER 

Pharisees, who were bitter in their criticism of the Master 
to his disciples. Evidently we have only an abbreviated ac- 
count of the matter; but the discussion came to the ears of 
Jesus, and he replied himself to the criticism. 

The contemptuous Pharisees could not imagine how any 
one who had any claim to be the Christ could also be the 
friend of the religious outcasts and the spiritually despised. 
Remember that the word "sinners" as used in the gospels 
does not necessarily mean men of immoral life. Sinners 
were those who did not keep the ceremonies or perform the 
stated ritual required by the religious leaders of the time. 
To the Pharisee it was a far greater fault to transgress one 
of the traditions of the elders or to fail to keep a prescribed 
ceremony than it was to be a person of flagrantly immoral 
life. Their criticism of Jesus was not that he loved to 
associate with debauched or vulgar men, but rather that he 
made friends with those who had not conformed to the 
superficial religious standards of the time. 

To love personal contacts with debased men is not the sign 
of a noble soul, except as one sees that through such relations 
good may be done. Sin must be repulsive to a healthy, clean 
soul. To discover the good in those whom men for superficial 
reasons despise is the mark of greatness. We like to think 
of Jesus as the friend of those who were outcasts in the 
minds of the Pharisees. It has become a title of nobility with 
him. What modern parallels suggest themselves to your 
mind as you think of Jesus in his association with men like 
Matthew and Zacchseus? 

Third Week, Fifth Day: "The Joy of Being the 
Master's Friend" 

And they said unto him, The disciples of John fast often, 
and make supplications; likewise also the disciples of the 
Pharisees; but thine eat and drink. And Jesus said unto 
them, Can ye make the sons of the bride-chamber fast, 
while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will 
come; and when the bridegroom shall be taken away from 
them, then will they fast in those days. — Luke 5: 33-35. 

Here we have two conceptions of religion that always are 
to be found. On the one side is fasting and prayer, the long 

28 



JESUS AND MATTHEW [111-6] 

list of dismal exercises and painful experiences, in which 
many men seem to think that religion must find its expression. 
On the other hand are the kind and happy human relation- 
ships for which the words "eating and drinking" stand. This 
healthy fellowship and wholesome joy have been assigned to 
the worldly spirit. Renunciation and sacrifice have been 
associated with religion. But Jesus simply reversed all this. 
He insisted that religion had a place among the table joys 
of men. He was not willing to give all the good times to evil 
and grant all misery and limitations to the good. Jesus evi- 
dently meant that his friends should be happy and share their 
good world of wholesome joy. 

This was true as regards his own association with his 
disciples and acquaintances. Art has given us the familiar 
figure of the "Man of Sorrows." But the report of his daily 
relations with men is not in accord with it. 

While his life is full of seriousness and the solemnity that 
comes from constant contact with the great truths of life, 
nevertheless the relationship between himself and his friends 
was marked by wholesome, healthy, human joy. It is time 
for us to recover this conception which appears in the incident 
at Matthew's feast. Perhaps he spoke these words with 
Matthew especially in mind. The tax gatherer had been a 
busy business man, and must have known the joy of hard 
work and the reaction of human friendship. Jesus wanted 
to show him that he was not going into an ascetic and gloomy 
life. Therefore he compared himself to the bridegroom, and 
his friend to the friend of the bridegroom during an Oriental 
marriage festival. The supreme characteristic of these glad 
times in the life of the East is the joy to which everyone 
yields. A depressed and melancholy friend of the bridegroom 
was unthinkable. Let us propose this as one of the tests of 
the Christian life. Your new relation with Christ has brought 
you the deepest joy that ever you have experienced. How 
does your daily life measure up to that test? 

Third Week, Sixth Day: "Expressing the Truth" 

And he spake also a parable unto them: No man rendeth 
a piece from a new garment and putteth it upon an old 
garment; else he will rend the new, and also the piece 
from the new will not agree with the old. And no man 

2g 



[III-6] MEETIXG THE MASTER 

putteth new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine 
will burst the skins, and itself will be spilled, and the 
skins will perish. But new wine must be put into fresh 
wine-skins. And no man having drunk old wine desireth 
new; for he saith, The old is good. — Luke 5: 36-39. 

Jesus uses three figures to explain the principle that truth 
must be expressed in the terms that are understood by the 
age for which the truth is intended. They were clear to 
his hearers. 

Cloth must be shrunken or fulled before it can keep its 
form. If therefore a patch is to be put upon an old and 
shrunken garment, it also must be of fulled or shrunken 
cloth. Otherwise the patch itself would shrink, and the rent 
be made all the worse. To the men to whom Jesus was 
speaking, this would be an almost perfect example of the 
way in which truth must be adapted to the time in which it 
is spoken and the conditions which it is meant to meet and 
help. 

The second figure is more apparent. Wine was put into 
skins, and the pressure of fermentation could not be suc- 
cessfully resisted by old skins that had been weakened by age 
and use. So the truth that is to fit the time must be expressed 
in new forms adapted to the age. 

The third item is found only in Luke and its significance 
grows out of what immediately precedes it. The patch and 
the new wine-skin indicate novelty and change ; the old wine 
suggests the worth of that which is old and approved. Jesus 
put the two truths together in Matt. 13 : 52 : "Therefore every 
scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of 
heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth 
forth out of his treasure things new and old." 

So Jesus was neither the dashing radical nor the staunch 
conservative. He was the happy union of both. He evidently 
wanted to assure Matthew on this point. This aggressive 
publican was in danger of throwing everything old on the 
scrap-heap and rushing into a new campaign of efficiency. 
Jesus laid his strong hand on his arm and steadied him by 
this story. He wanted Matthew to understand that he did 
not need to be afraid of the future and its new experiences, 
so long as there was continuous and creative life behind the 
change. What does this mean for us? 

30 



JESUS AXD MATTHEW [III-7] 

Third Week, Seventh Day: "Publican and Chris- 
tian Standards of Life" 

Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love 
your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; 
that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: 
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, 
and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if ye 
love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not 
even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your 
brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even 
the Gentiles the same? — Matt. 5: 43-47. 

While the so-called Sermon on the Mount is recorded in 
its fullest form in our present gospel according to Matthew, 
it is quite certain that it is made up of sayings and talks that 
were given at different times and doubtless often repeated. 
It is altogether possible that the significant passage for today 
might have been impressed upon the mind of Matthew with 
peculiar force as he heard it from the lips of Jesus near the 
toll booth. Certainly it reflects his own conception of the 
difference between the standards of the publican and the* 
Christian as he experienced both. 

Surely no man understood better than Matthew the stand- 
ards of Gentile and publican morality. He knew that it was 
easy for an}- man to love those who loved him, and he under- 
stood how the common courtesies of life would always be 
extended to those who rendered them in return. But he saw 
also that the Christian ideal and standard went far beyond 
these. To love those who do not love us. and to be courteous 
to those who are not kind to us, demands a wholly different 
power on the part of any man. Matthew had learned that 
there was only one way in which to reach this high plane of 
noble and unselfish action. He must have his own motives 
mastered and controlled by the mighty purposes of Jesus 
Christ. Only when he repeated in his own daily relationships 
that self-sacrificing chivalry which Jesus manifested could 
he be counted truly a disciple of Christ. It is sometimes 
said that the Christian ideal is impossible. Does it seem 
so to you? Granted that there are relatively few who attain 
to even a reasonable degree of conformity to the standards 

31 



[III-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

of Christ, is it not better to have such an ideal before one 
to strive towards than to be satisfied with anything less? 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

This man Matthew is a busy practical business man, a fine 
type of the modern layman, efficient and successful. He 
gets results and he commands situations. He meets the stress 
of competition and endures the criticism and opposition that 
arise inevitably in the business world. The performance- of 
routine duties, however, did not keep him from doing his own 
vigorous thinking concerning the subjects that were discussed 
around his business office. The man who thought that Mat- 
thew was interested only in gathering the taxes and getting 
the largest possible rake-off for himself did not understand 
this publican at all. When he went home at night he thought 
over a discussion that he had heard during the day between 
the Pharisees and a young rabbi named Jesus. The genuine- 
ness and simplicity of the teacher made a deep impression 
upon him and he could not shake off the feeling that perhaps 
here was indeed a leader worthy of his allegiance. 

The result of such reflections appeared in a sudden decision 
that Matthew made one day, when he was at work as usual. 
He was not the kind of a man who did things by halves. It 
took a man of positive character to collect taxes anyway. 
The scribes might be adepts at covering up their meaning 
with many and confusing terms ; but Matthew was not that 
sort. For him a decision meant to be clear and definite. Mr. 
/Moody used to express his admiration for men who were 
worthy of the degree "O. O." which stood for "Out and Out." 
Matthew could have been given that degree most consistently. 
When he had decided what he was going to do with his life, 
he was willing that all the Capernaum people should know 
about it. He had nothing to cover up and everything to 
reveal. This open championship of the man and the cause 
that he had espoused wins for him our admiration. He has 
the courage of John. 

It must have been an interesting event when the news 
went around that Matthew the publican had invited his friends 
to a banquet in honor of Jesus. The Pharisees held up their 
hands in horror. Here was a man for whom some were al- 
ready claiming the title of Messiah; and he was eating with 

32 



JESUS AND MATTHEW [III-c] 

the outcasts and neglecting the high officials of the church! 
It would never do ! One can almost see their oily piety as 
they lodged their criticism against Jesus. Matthew was 
utterly beyond the reach of this, however. He heard Jesus 
talk; he watched his life. He saw that here was new truth, 
which could not be put into the words or forms that the 
self-satisfied defenders of tradition were using. Fresh wine- 
skins were absolutely necessary, and Matthew was the kind 
of a layman who had the nerve to find and use them. This 
is the sort of a man whom we admire. The scribes could 
not understand Jesus ; but this layman, who knew publican 
morality from first to last, saw in an instant that Jesus was 
the bearer of a new truth and the creator of a different 
standard. The heart of it all was love for friends and foes 
alike. This got hold of the busy man gathering taxes and 
made him a frank and fearless follower of Christ. 

It is a most healthy picture of Jesus that we get from 
this relation to Matthew. Once more we see him among the 
people, talking over the supreme problems of life and sharing 
the challenging talk near the tax-gatherer's office. It is the 
wonderful humanity and wholesomeness of Jesus that wins 
our admiration for him. He does not go into the scholar's 
study; he does not put on the robes of the priest; he lives 
in his "house by the side of the road" where the crowds of 
men go by. Undoubtedly it was the appeal of his healthy 
humanity, far more than any reasoned claim in argument, 
which won for Jesus the decision of Matthew. That is why 
the publican asked Jesus to a banquet as a guest of honor. 
He knew that the Master would make the occasion happy 
and profitable. 

But a still finer outline of the character of Jesus is that 
which presents him as the physician of sick souls and the 
revealer of truth that possesses creative power to make 
character and transform life. Matching his human simplicity 
is a certain majesty of spirit, that enables Jesus at the right 
time to pass the office of a business man and lay a personal 
-obligation upon him, in response to which he changes the 
whole course of his life. Jesus is a Master with such an 
imperial command that men who are true to their noblest 
prompting yield to it with the full surrender of their wills. 
No general ever gained such perfect obedience from his 
soldiers ; no teacher ever won such implicit allegiance from 

33 



A 



[III-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

his pupils. Jesus speaks and men listen and follow. The 
accent of the divine imperative is on his kindly lips. 

Of all the disciples about whom we know, Matthew was 
the one who would be able most quickly to discover the full 
significance of that interpretation which Jesus gave to the old 
law, the report of which is in the first gospel While he 
had the greatest respect for the old covenant, Jesus did not 
hesitate to give such fresh values to it as revolutionized it for 
all time. Men had easily asserted in pious pride that they 
were not murderers ; Jesus demanded that they should look 
into their hearts and search out their old hatreds and grudges. 
The moral leaders of the time drew their garments aside in 
holy scorn when they came near a woman who had sinned. 
Jesus insisted that they should go into the old attic of the 
soul, bring cut into the daylight the secret lust that had lived 
there with the bats and spiders, of pride and selfishness, and 
clean up the place. 

This reveals the moral insight of the Master. He is not 
ready to sanction any superficial view of truth or goodness. 
He goes to the root of it; this makes him the true "radical" 
in the literal meaning of the term. But he balances it all 
in the just judgment of the conservative, to whom is precious 
all that is true in the old. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 
STUDY 

i. Of what value are such public and popular discussions 
of moral and religious subjects as undoubtedly took place 
around Matthew's toll office? Ought such discussion to be 
encouraged today? 

2. If Jesus were living in America today at what kind of 
social occasions would he probably be found? 

3. To what classes of men and conditions of life is the 
message of Christ especially imperative now? Are they hear- 
ing it? Are we helping to bring them the message? 

4. What place has a creed in the religious life of an in- 
dividual? Of what use is a creed to a church? 

5. How can the Church furnish the new forms that are 
necessary for the expression of the truth for today? Can 
you name any essential Christian truth that has found new 
expression in recent years? 

34 



JESUS AXD MATTHEW [III-c] 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

Matthew 

i. A busy, practical business man, listening and thinking 
while he carried on his work. 

2. Meeting the call to his supreme life work while he was 
busy with his daily tasks. 

3. Honoring Jesus with an immediate and whole-hearted 
surrender to service. 

4. Expressing his loyalty in a public feast and among his 
friends. 

5. Learning and teaching the new law of Christ, whose 
secret is love for friends and enemies alike. 

Jesus 

1. Mingling freely and helpfully with men in their daily 
life, a Man among men. 

2. Calling men in the midst of their daily tasks to love 
and follow him, entering a larger life by giving up smaller 
tasks and ideals. 

3. Sharing and ennobling the happy social relationships of 
his fellows. 

4. Acting as the physician of sick souls. 

5. Giving new truth that fras power to create the forms 
in which it may be understood. 



35 



CHAPTER IV 

Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler 

DAILY READINGS 

Fourth Week, First Day : "The Great Summons" 

And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one 
to him, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Teacher, 
what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And 
Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is 
good save one, even God. Thou knowest the command- 
ments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, 
Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor thy 
father and mother. And he said unto him, Teacher, all 
these things have I observed from my youth. And Jesus 
looking upon him loved him, and said unto him, One 
thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and 
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: 
and come, follow me. But his countenance fell at the 
saying, and he went away sorrowful: for he was one that 
had great possessions. — Mark 10: 17-22. 

Jesus had been in the house with the children. His tender 
and beautiful act of blessing them was the prelude to this 
interview with the young man. His mind must have been 
full of the spirit of the event as he met his eager questioner. 

The fact that the young man knelt down when he met 
Jesus reveals his respect for the Master. He is no rich young 
snob who comes to Christ with a captious question. He is 
respectful and honest. 

Note also the use of the words "Good Teacher." It is 
not a term of mere flattery or empty form. The young man 
apparently means it sincerely; Jesus is not only a rabbi, but 
he deserves to be called the Good Rabbi. Altogether this is 
to the young man's credit. He wants to talk with some one 
who can give him true and good advice. His question is 

36 



JESUS AND THE RICH YOUNG RULER [IV-2] 

fair and friendly; it is quite to his credit; he makes a good 
first impression by it. 

It is possible to conceive of a situation in which the great 
question asked by the young man might be inspired simply 
by selfish motives. The desire to live forever may be only 
an expression of supreme vanity. However, there is no reason 
to suppose that it was so in this case. The desire to live 
forever, in order that work still may be done for God and 
humanity, is one of the noblest ambitions that any man could 
cherish. We note the eagerness with which the young man 
put his question to Jesus. He came on the run. This shows 
that he had been thinking. He was rich, and undoubtedly 
had every resource at hand to gratify his desires for pleas- 
ure : but in spite of all that, he had been trying to find out 
what the supreme thing in life was. 

More men think deeply on these things than we ordinarily 
.realize. Just as we saw beneath the hardened surface of 
the Woman of Samaria's life an eager yearning for the 
truth, so beneath all the superficial pleasures and riches of 
this man, there was the earnest desire to understand what 
would give him eternal life. 

Fourth Week, Second Day: "Entering Into Life" 

And he said unto him, Why askest thou me concern- 
ing that which is good? One there is who is good: but 
if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments. 
— Matt. 19: 17. 

The young man was a Jew, trained in the knowledge of the 
Old Testament, whose great commandments he had memorized 
when he was a child. He knew the way to the good life; 
but evidently he lacked the power to get results that satis- 
fied his own ideals. He needed power, peace, happiness. 
That is why he brought his question to Jesus. 

At this point we hit upon one of those fine distinctions 
which Jesus knew so well how to make. He told the young 
man that there was only one good in all the world, that is, 
God. The way in which to be good, or to enter into the life 
that will endure forever, is to become so identified in moral 
purpose with God that we shall truly share his life. 

There is only one basis for ethics. We ought to be good 

37 



[IV-3] MEETING THE MASTER 

not simply because it will make the larger number of people 
happy, and not merely that we may follow the lines of con- 
duct that have been agreed upon ; the true reason why we 
must be good is because we are God's children, bearing his 
image, and therefore we ought to be like him. This is the 
law of the Old Testament, "Ye shall be holy; for I Jehovah 
your God am holy" (Lev. 19: 2). It is also the commandment 
of Jesus, "Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly 
Father is perfect" (Matt. 5: 48). In all our discussion of 
the fundamentals of the moral life let us never forget that 
the warrants for goodness rest at last in the nature and the 
will of God. 

Then follows the great lesson that obedience is the way of 
life. This truth is not always welcome to eager and impetuous 
youth; but it is inescapable. See how it applies in business. 
A boy cannot learn a trade unless he will give up to the 
demands of it and train himself through a long course of 
discipline. Think how a violinist must obey the laws of his 
art before he can play at a concert. The success of a student 
depends upon his willingness to submit to the rigid and 
relentless demands of the particular study and of the whole 
curriculum. In all these relations obedience is the way by 
which we enter into life. The same law holds in religion. 
Here also we must obey to live. What laws are we most 
reluctant to obey? How does obedience in specific cases help 
lis later in accepting other obligations? 

Fourth Week, Third Day : "A Fair Inquiry" 
He saith unto him, Which? — Matt. 19: 18. 

As we have interpreted the young man's approach to Jesus 
to be sincere, so we consider his question a fair one. Study 
another occasion when Jesus was asked to name the essen- 
tial commandments and compare the spirit of the two inquiries 
(Mark 12: 28-34). 

It is the sign of a genuine soul when one asks such search- 
ing questions as this. Many young men are too sluggish to 
think at all. They let the great problems go by default. 
They seem to think that they can solve their difficulties by 
ignoring them. This young man at least faced the task of 
making discriminations. 

38 



JESUS AND THE RICH YOUNG RULER [IV-4] 

And Jesus welcomed the question. This is one of the 
marks of the Master as a teacher. He was sympathetic, 
responsive, and patient with every honest questioner. Recall 
his dealing with the Woman of Samaria. Xo rebuff ever 
was received at his hands as men, in the spirit of fairness, 
brought him their honest questions. 

It is necessary to make discriminations in our definition 
of our ethical ideal and our application of the moral law. 
The landscape of right and wrong is not a prairie ; it is 
broken by mountain chains, and there are vast, towering 
summits in it. To make our survey and finally mid ourselves 
at home in this broken country is one of our greatest tasks. 

Different ages and civilizations have stressed now one and 
now another detail of the moral law. Standards change 
from generation to generation. What laws do you think are 
being undervalued or overstressed today? 



Fourth Week, Fourth Day: "The Standard of 
Righteousness" 

And Jesus said, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not 
commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not 
bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. — Matt. 19: 18, 19* 

Jesus refers at once with complete respect and confidence 
to the ancient Mosaic law as giving the standards of right- 
eousness. He cherishes the ethical conceptions of the past 
and sanctions the teachings of the moral masters of his 
race. But he is no slavish literalist, as the Pharisees were. 
This young man was rich and therefore doubtless subject to 
the perils that wealth brings. Possibly some of his money 
had been gained by methods that would not bear close scrutiny. 
So. according to the report in Mark 10: 19, Jesus added a 
seventh standard and commandment, "Do not defraud." 

The standard that Jesus proposed to the young man was 
composed of seven items, four of which are negative and 
three positive. Are these adequate for the modern struggle 
for character? Is the item added in Mark explicit enough to 
secure economic justice if it were fully carried out in the 
business world today? 

39 



[IV-5] MEETING THE MASTER 

The character that results from keeping such a set of com- 
mandments must be hard and mechanical. It issues inevitably 
from so much obedience to so many laws rendered for so 
long a time. Therefore this kind of "righteousness that is 
according to the law" is essentially a kind of moral and 
spiritual book-keeping. It produces uprightness and heroic 
devotion ; but there is in it nothing of the freedom, kindness, 
and love which lie beneath the new law that Jesus brought 
to men. 

Fourth Week, Fifth Day: "The Great Omission" 

The young man saith unto him, All these things have 
I observed: what lack I yet? — Matt. 19: 20. 

See Mark 10: 20 for the added item, "From my youth up." 
As we think of the young man, giving this instant and honest 
reply to Jesus, we do not regard his words as a moral boast. 
It is undoubtedly a true estimate; he had kept the laws of 
God. And therefore he was strong and worthy of honor. 

There was nothing of the negative and "goody goody" 
character about him. True moral worth is something that 
wins respect from others. A girl is reported to have said 
concerning a student as he came back from his first year at 
college : "Of course, George is not so good as he was before 
he went away; but he's lots more interesting." But moral 
integrity is interesting. And this rich young man wins our 
attention and commands our respect, not simply because he 
is rich, but because he is clean and wholesome, sound and 
healthy morally. 

He had begun in the right way, and early. In those im- 
pressionable years between babyhood and the "teen" age the 
channels of habit had been cut in the right direction. This 
b>oy with the strong, beautiful body was no puny fellow who 
was good for nothing. 

But the fault in his character was that it was not develop- 
ing along the line of great inward loyalties ; it was incapable 
of heroic sacrifices. Judged by the standard of deeds it was 
noble; according to the test of motives it was weak. This 
"faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null" character 
needed the touch of passion and the gleam of a great con- 
secration in it ; then it would become truly human. And 

40 



JESUS AXD THE RICH YOUNG RULER [IV-6] 

nothing less than the touch of Jesus could furnish the lacking 
fire to fuse the gold. 

Fourth Week, Sixth Day: "The Great Oppor- 
tunity" 

And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto 
him, One thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast, 
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
heaven: and come, follow me. — Mark 10: 21. 

Jesus and the young man both met a test successfully in 
this interview. The young man won the love of Jesus by his 
moral integrity. That was no small triumph. The success 
of Jesus lay in his instant discernment and approval of the 
young man's moral soundness. Every time we come into the 
presence of the good and the true we are radically tested ; 
do we discern and approve it? Jesus always did. This is 
the mark of a noble mind and a clean soul. Do you im- 
mediately admire the good when you see it ; does the beauti- 
ful call forth your loyalty; does truth win your allegiance 
instantly and wholly? 

In studying the command of Jesus, balance the negative 
and the positive. The four significant words are, "sell," 
"give," "come," "follow." We have given too much' atten- 
tion to the first and the second. We have overlooked the 
positive meaning of the third and fourth. It seems hard to 
ask this fine young fellow to sell his possessions and give 
away the proceeds. But turn to the second pair of com- 
manding words. Jesus simply sought to detach the young 
man from that which was hindering his spiritual develop- 
ment, in order that he might be prepared for a companion- 
ship and service which would enrich and perfect his life. 
Jesus asked him to give up that which was spoiling his 
character in order that he might gain that which would make 
his life noble and useful. Jesus never asks men simply to 
give up their possessions as 'an end in itself. He makes the 
detachment the means to a higher end. If the young man 
had obeyed the simple command, "Come and follow me," 
his life would have been filled with positive power and great 
achievement. But the way into this success was detachment 
from his riches. 

41 



[IV-7] MEETING THE MASTER 

Is there anything standing in the way of our entering fully 
into personal relations with Christ? To hold fast to any 
form of wealth or action which is a barrier to our larger 
usefulness for Christ is to miss the meaning of life. When 
once we are fully engaged in Christian service we have so 
much rewarding work to do that it is no real self-denial to 
detach ourselves from anything that we see stands in the way 
of its performance. 

Fourth Week, Seventh Day : "The Great Refusal" 

But his countenance fell at the saying, and he went 
away sorrowful: for he was one that had great possessions. 
— Mark 10: 22. 

The action of the young man has come to be known as 
"The Great Refusal." We must not do him any injustice. 
Is this too severe a description of his action? This was 
his supreme opportunity. To fail at the highest point is a 
tragic calamity. And this was failure in the critical moment. 

But why was the young man sorrowful? He was going 
back to his rich friends, to his feasts and his excursions, to 
his luxurious life and financially care-free hours. No prob- 
lems of a living wage, the weekly rent, clothes for the chil- 
dren, money enough for books and pleasures, would trouble 
him. He would not need to work his way through college, 
set up his home in economy and self-denial, or sacrifice to 
the bleeding point to stand by a comrade in struggle. Why, 
then, did he go away with hanging head and bitterness in 
his heart? What is the real root of the deepest sorrows of 
men? 

What do you think that the young man expected Jesus to 
say? His action seems to have been taken immediately, with 
no time given to reflection. Evidently it was an issue in- 
stantly clear and settled in his mind. We never hear of the 
young man again in the gospel story. His name has perished. 
Imagine what might have happened if he had yielded to Jesus 
that day! He might have become one of the disciples; he 
might have written a gospel. Suppose his name was Simeon. 
We might have today a "Gospel according to Simeon," from 
which millions of followers of Christ would have read. 
There might be a "St. Simeon," honored by young men, a 

42 



JESUS AXD THE RICH YOUNG RULER [IV-c] 

man's saint. There might have been so many honorable 
deeds recorded concerning this man with the forgotten name. 
But he lost it. all, because he could not surrender his gold 
and his honors for something beyond any price. 

How Jesus must have felt as he saw the young man go 
away sorrowful ! It hurt him to the very heart. He needed 
friends; he needed this young man just then. His heart was 
hungry for loyalty; and here was a young man, upright and 
strong, who could have given him loyal support. The sight 
of the retreating figure must have stabbed Jesus with a new 
pang. It is terrible to fail Jesus when he expects us to be 
loyal! 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

The scene in which Jesus meets the rich young man opens 
with the stage set for one of the most beautiful events of 
the Master's life ; it closes in tragic sorrow. Here was an 
honest questioner. He is reverent as he comes into the pres- 
ence of the Master. Every word and action indicates 
sincerity. 

He has been thinking, too. His thought has not been pro- 
found, but it has been real. He is not satisfied with the 
world that he sees or the life that he lives. He is yearning 
for endless life; he wants to know how to gain it. All this 
is to his credit and makes him immediately worthy of our 
admiration. 

Then he is sound and clean, so far as his moral acts are 
concerned. He can look the great Ten Commandments in 
the face without a blush. Moral soundness like this is not 
won without a struggle; for the blood of youth is hot and 
the impulses of growing manhood are not kept within bounds 
except by a firm hand. Such character as the young man 
possessed has to be paid for in the hard cash of a good fight 
with the foes of clean living. So this strong fellow is no 
pale worldling. He has drawn his sword against his foes 
and has not gone down in the battle. 

But he is rich and his money crowds up into the foreground 
of his life as an interest of the first magnitude. It has not 
debauched him in morals ; but it has done something to him 
that is worse even than that. It has made him incapable 
of a great sacrifice and loyalty. In the moment when he 

43 



fIV-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

ought to see clearly, his bonds and his dividends get in be- 
tween him and the true object of his quest. His foe now is 
not lust or hate; it is his bank account. His landscape is 
hopelessly out of focus, and the image is mixed strangely 
because there is a big dollar mark on the lens. He is done 
to death in his vision by the gold in the chest at home. 

And so he faces the alternatives, wealth and bondage, or 
Christ and freedom, with the issue decided even before it 
is proposed. He is enslaved, although he does not know it. 
It is useless to argue about what might have happened if 
something had not happened which did happen; but it is 
always interesting to fancy what might have been. This is 
the only way in which we can estimate the disaster which 
befell the young man. He missed being one of the best 
friends of Jesus. 

The young man's sorrow is greatly to his credit. He is 
conscious in a dim way that he is missing something; but he 
is not alert enough to the situation to appreciate what it is. 
The sense of loss makes him downcast; but it is not strong 
enough to make him decisive. In this dim way, however, 
he seems to be aware that he is losing an opportunity. But 
an indefinite regret does not bring him practical help. The 
situation is unrelieved. He goes out into a sorrowful life. 

The moral appreciation of Jesus stands out in clear con- 
trast to the wavering of the young man. The Master sees 
the good, knows its one true source, and offers it in its highest 
form to his questioner. The best thing in the world is a 
life of such love and service as Jesus lived. In other words, 
Jesus himself is the example of the highest good. His charac- 
ter is the supreme attainment toward which any person can 
strive. 

One way in which to express the contrast between the 
character of the young man and that of Jesus is to say that 
the former made the good an enemy instead of a friend of 
the best, while Jesus always kept the best ahead in his life 
and was not content with anything less. It was not a flagrant 
evil that stood between the young man and the best gift 
that ever was offered him ; it was a lower good. And in 
choosing it, he permitted the good to become the foe of the 
best. It is an error into which one is easily betrayed, and 
it is none the less disastrous because it is so plausible. 

Thus Jesus is revealed in this interview as offering the 

44 



JESUS AND THE RICH YOUNG RULER [IV -c] 

supreme opportunity to perfect and glorify individual life. 
It is such a challenge as no other moral or spiritual master 
oilers to the world. Great teachers have set forth philos- 
ophies and codes of law as the objectives of their disciples, 
noble prophets have pointed their fellows to the God whom 
they were forgetting. But Jesus called and bound his fol- 
lowers to loyalty to himself. In a recent description of the 
way in which the Armenian Christians have paid the price 
of loyalty to Christ by suffering and death, a missionary who 
knows them intimately said, "They did not give their lives 
for an abstract doctrine or any theory of religion ; they be- 
lieved that Christ was alive and that their loyalty to him as 
a real Person was something for which they dared to die." 
Jesus was clear in his vision, definite in his call, and 
faithful to his part of the covenant wdien he told men that 
the way into the perfect life was through a personal rela- 
tionship with himself. And for two thousand years the 
reality of this claim has been vindicated by millions of 
persons who have come to the hour of decision and have not 
made the great refusal. What a superb character it is that 
can stand behind a claim like this ! Jesus, the flawless Man, 
the perfect Son of the Father, lived his brief life among 
men and dared to affirm that he was the Way into the perfect 
life. The moral majesty and the sublime spiritual worth of 
his character had to lie back of this call and claim, or it would 
have been the most insolent challenge that the world ever 
has heard. But it has never failed those who have paid the 
price. 



QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY AND DIS- 
CUSSION 

1. What are the sources of moral and religious instruction 
and certainty to which young people are turning today? 

2. Why ought we to be good? Discuss the basis of ethics. 
. 3. How far can the laws of the Christian life as laid down 

by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount be kept under the 
conditions of the modern world? 

4. What are some of the interests and possessions from 
which anyone must detach himself who is to follow Christ 
now as his Master? 

45 



[IV-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

The Rich Young Ruler 

i. Eager to know truth, thoughtful and respectful. 

2. Upright in character according to the Ten Command- 
ments. 

3. Unwilling to detach himself from a lesser good in order 
that he might find and follow the best. 

4. Going away from the scene of a great decision in sor- 
row, because he was not discerning enough and courageous 
enough to begin a life of service with Christ. 

5. Perhaps one of the lost evangelists and saints of the 
world. 

Jesus 

1. Winning the respect of young men. 

2. Pointing men to God as the only good. 

3. Appreciating, honoring, and loving moral worth. 

4. Affording the supreme opportunity by which anyone can 
complete and glorify daily life. 

5. Suffering when those fail him who ought to be loyal. 



46 



CHAPTER V 

Jesus and Nicodemus 

DAILY READINGS 

Fifth Week, First Day: "A Visitor at Night" 

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nico- 
demus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came unto him by 
night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a 
teacher come from God: for no one can do these signs 
that thou doest, except God be with him. — John 3: 1, 2. 

We like to think of Jesus sitting in the circle of light thrown 
by a little lamp in the room on the roof of the house where 
he was staying. The air may have been soft and cool and 
the breeze rustling the leaves on the vine or the ng tree. 
Perhaps he had gone up to the roof in order to be alone 
after a day of anxious thought and nervous strain, when 
he had been spending the very strength of his soul in meeting 
the needs of many people. 

Then appeared his cautious visitor, Nicodemus, the dis- 
tinguished and dignified member of the Sanhedrin. Jesus 
was a young man. He had grown up in Nazareth, and had 
not enjoyed close personal contact with the official life and 
the religious leaders of Jerusalem. It was a severe test of 
his self-control and poise of character. 

The interview began with a compliment, which we believe 
to have been genuine on the part of Nicodemus, and which 
surely must have been most gratifying to Jesus. The Master 
met it superbly. He was not thrown off his guard, and he 
did not, because of it, lose his sense of the serious importance 
of the interview and of his own work. 

Nicodemus stands out in a most pleasing light. In spite 
of his lack of courage, he is genuinely religious, and he longs 
to know the truth. He has weighed the value of Jesus' words 

47 



[V-2] MEETING THE MASTER 

and deeds and has reached the sincere conviction that they 
must be the sign of God's favor and sanction. So he seeks 
Jesus, not out of curiosity, but with the sincere purpose of 
learning the truth about the Master. 

What impression has Jesus made upon us, as we have read 
the story of his life in the gospels, and heard men speak 
of his influence upon them? Are we, too, trying to meet the 
Master personally in intimate spiritual fellowship, that we 
may understand the secret of his message and his person? 

Fifth Week, Second Day : "The Birth from Above" 

/ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say 
unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can 
a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time 
into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, 
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of 
water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I 
said unto thee, Ye must be born anew. The wind bloweth 
where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but 
knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so 
is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus an- 
swered and said unto him, How can these things be? — 
John 3: 3-9. 

Jesus and his guest apparently spent no time in passing 
commonplace remarks. Jesus plunged instantly into a proposi- 
tion that plumbed the very deeps of the human soul. He 
felt that Nicodemus had come to him with a serious ques- 
tion, and it was no time for trifling. 

The Master used here, as he did so often, a physical symbol 
to express a spiritual truth. He told Nicodemus that in 
order to enter into the kingdom of heaven one must experi- 
ence a radical inner change of purpose, /and a thorough- 
going adjustment of spiritual relationships that could be 
described by nothing less than a new birth to the soul. This, 
of course, is not a definition; it is a description of the 
Christian life in the familiar language of every day. 

Just as the advent into human life means that the baby 
begins instantly to make those discoveries and adjustments 
in which his physical life consists, so when the human soul 

48 



JESUS AXD XICODEMUS [V-3] 

enters into the relation of personal allegiance to Christ, it 
starts upon a quest which will require eternity for its accom- 
plishment. So, in the strictest sense of the word, the true 
Christian experience is a "life." 

It is probable that the two men could hear the sound of 
the wind among the leaves as they talked. Nicodemus, like 
the Woman of Samaria, failed to grasp the meaning of the 
physical symbol. Jesus answered his hesitation by saying, 
"Listen to the wind ! You cannot explain it ; but you can 
feel it. Be as honest in trusting the influences that bear in 
upon your soul. You cannot define God's, swaying impulses; 
but you can open your spirit to them, feel them, and obey 
them." Is this a fair challenge to us in our moments of 
spiritual hesitation? 

Fifth Week, Third Day: "The Sure Witness" 

Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher 
of Israel, and understandest not these things? Verily, 
verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, 
and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye 
receive not our witness. If I told you earthly things and 
ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly 
things? And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he 
that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who 
is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; 
that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life. — 
John 3: 10-15. 

The dramatic contrast between the hesitation of Xicodemus 
and the assurance of Jesus is vividly represented here. The 
older man, a master of Israel, supposed to be at home in the 
intricacies of the spiritual life, loses his way at once in the 
interpretation which Jesus gives him. All he can do is to 
say in bewildered fashion, "how can these things be !''' It 
is the melancholy exclamation of a soul that is fatigued with 
the mysteries of religious debate, and has not found anchorage 
in the certainty and confidence that Jesus can bring. On the 
other hand, Jesus is absolutely surefooted concerning the 
relations of the human soul to God the Father. He makes 
affirmations which no one else has ever dared to make, and 
he justifies them not only in his own life, but in the experi- 

49 



[V-4l MEETING THE MASTER 

ence of every one who follows him in loving obedience. He 
said that he had lived with the Father ; that he had come forth 
from the Father, that he was to return to the Father when 
his earthly mission was done. Jesus never endeavored to 
speak on other subjects with a final certainty. He never 
appears as an authority in history or science. His field is 
the human soul and its relations to God, and here he always 
speaks with absolute clarity of conviction. 

We are justly impatient with the claims that men make to 
authority. . But every one knows that there are certain vital 
questions and certain areas of the spiritual life where we 
simply must have some word which we can trust implicitly. 
Jesus spoke with this accent of final authority, and we never 
shall be disappointed if we follow him with unshaken con- 
fidence. 

When Jesus describes himself as "in heaven, ,, he speaks, of 
course, as one who is living on earth in close vital relations 
with men and things, but is at the same time living intimately 
under those laws that are supposed to obtain in the heavenly 
life. This is a definition of the Christian experience — that 
is, actual living on earth, day by day, according to the ruling 
motives which govern the perfect association of loyal spirits 
in vital union with God. Is this a practicable ideal for our 
everyday life? 

Fifth Week, Fourth Day : "The Supreme Gift" 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not 
perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son 
into the world to judge the world; but that the world 
should be saved through him. — John 3: 16, 17. 

The section John 3 : 16-21 inclusive is sometimes regarded 
as not the identical words spoken by Jesus himself, but a 
reflection by the author of our gospel. Whether this is true 
or not, certainly it contains one of the most comprehensive 
and satisfactory statements of the character and mission of 
Jesus that we possess. 

Jesus is here defined as God's Supreme Gift, the Saviour 
of the world. The dream of the salvation of the world is 
one of the noblest that ever has gained mastery over the 

50 



JESUS AND NICODEMUS [V-5] 

human mind. Think for a moment what it means to save 
the world from all the calamities that follow in the wake of 
human sin! Imagine the kind of a world we should live in 
tomorrow if during every hour every living person should 
act thoroughly according to the law of love and be entirely 
controlled by the purposes of Jesus Christ! That is what the 
salvation of the world would mean. It is not escaping from 
something, it is being saved into something. 

Jesus came into the world in order that he might bring 
it into the same kind of a blessed and eternal union with 
God as he himself enjoyed when he was living among men. 
Have you thought of Jesus as saving yourself and your sur- 
roundings into this kind of a permanent and happy union with 
God the Father? 

Fifth Week, Fifth Day: "The Light of Life" 

He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth 
not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed 
on the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this 
is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, 
and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for 
their works were evil. For every one that doeth evil 
hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his 
works should be reproved. But he that doeth the truth 
cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, 
that they have been wrought in God. — John 3: 18-21. 

It was most appropriate that Jesus should use the figure 
of light in the attempt to describe his mission to the world. 
It was night, and the contrast between the little oil lamp 
glowing on the stand and the broad daylight upon the world 
in the morning must have been apparent to both of them. 

Phillips Brooks describes the Master's use of this illustra- 
tion in the following paragraph : 

''Sometimes Jesus gathers His work and nature up in one 
descriptive word, and offers it, as it were out of a wide-open 
hand, complete to His disciples. In such a word all the 
details of His relation to the soul and to the world are com- 
prehensively included. As the disciple listens and receives it 
he feels all his fragmentary and scattered experiences drawing 
together and rounding into unity. As, having heard it, he 
carries it forth with him into his life, he finds all future 

5i 



[V-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

experiences claiming their places within it, and getting their 
meaning from it. Such words of Jesus are like spheres of 
crystal into which the world is gathered, and where the past 
and future, the small and the great, may all be read." 

Jesus reveals to us not only our true selves, but the signifi- 
cance of the world in which we live ; he touches our life with 
creative energy; he sustains and orders its progress. Have 
we brought our lives into the full light of the character and 
teaching and spirit of Jesus? Would we be afraid to have 
yesterday's conduct displayed in the radiance of the Master's 
ideal? Shall we try to live today in such a way that our 
work will bear the revealing test of the light of Christ? 

Fifth Week, Sixth Day: "A Plea for Justice" 

The officers therefore came to the chief priests and 
Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why did ye not 
bring him? The officers answered, Never man so spake. 
The Pharisees therefore answered them, Are ye also led 
astray? Hath any of the rulers believed on him* or of 
the Pharisees? But this multitude that knoweth not the 
law are accursed. Nicodemus saith unto them (he that 
came to him before, being one of them), Doth our law 
judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know 
what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art 
thou also of Galilee? Search, and see that out of Galilee 
ariseth no prophet. — John 7: 45-52. 

The Pharisees had sent the temple police to arrest the 
Master, but the wonder of his personality and his gracious 
words had so overcome the officers that they returned with 
their mission unaccomplished. With the curl of religious 
scorn on their lips, the Pharisees taunted them with the ques- 
tion, "Have any of the leaders accepted the claims of this 
man?" It was the old voice of official arrogance, and furnishes 
the background for the action of Nicodemus. 

Nicodemus now finds himself in the position of a belated 
defender of Jesus' right to a fair hearing before the people 
and an honest trial at the hands of the officials. However, 
it is better to come late to the defense of the truth than not 
to come at all, and Nicodemus wins our respect by the way 
in which he stands up for fair play. 

His strength was tested in no small way when Nicodemus 

52 



JESUS AND NICODEMUS [V-;] 

thus took his stand as the champion of Christ, full in the 
face of contempt and criticism. The men of his class and 
station were unanimous in their scorn, not only for Jesus, 
but for all those who were inclined to hear and follow him. 
But Nicodemus was not dismayed. He simply appealed to 
the elementary sense of justice in all human hearts, and in- 
sisted that no man should be condemned without a fair 
hearing. This was admirable. 

It is interesting to notice the way in which his antagonists 
sent him to the Old Testament for the proof that Jesus could 
not be the Christ. They were as confident that they could 
disprove the Master's claims from Scripture as he was certain 
that the Old Testament confirmed by prophecy his divine 
origin. Nicodemus, however, discovered that there was 
something greater than the literal meaning of a written record : 
it was the personality of the living Jesus himself. So he 
tested the Master's claim by the touchstone of the Master's 
personality. 

Fifth Week, Seventh Day: "The Last Honors" 

And after these things Joseph of Arimathaea, being a 
disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked 
of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: 
and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took 
away his body. And there came also Nicodemus, he who 
at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of 
myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. So they took 
the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the 
spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. — John 19: 
38-40. 

Here they are at the end — Joseph of Arimathaea and 
Nicodemus ; the one provides a grave, the other the spices 
to scatter on the winding sheet, wrapped about the body of 
Jesus. Nicodemus, of course, was no worse than the most 
of us. He had come of his own accord to Jesus, and evi- 
dently had been deeply impressed by what Jesus had said to 
him. He had kept carefully out of the way of difficulties 
which would have inevitably followed his own championship 
of the Master's cause, and had dared to put up only a late 
defense before the council. At the last, however, he comes 
with his friends and brings what was probably the sign of 

53 



[ V-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

his true appreciation of the Master to the tomb. The scene 
is really tragic. Flowers and kind words for the dead come 
very strangely from those who gave no support to the living. 
The very issues of life and death were at stake, and Nico- 
demus surely must have known it. He had power and 
prestige; he probably could have exerted strong personal 
influence in Jesus' behalf. It is too strong a term to call 
him a coward. There may have been good reasons for his 
coming to Jesus by night. But the scene at the tomb reveals 
the fact that, knowing the truth, he did not come out and 
stand for it with all the force of his position and personal 
energy. How desperately the cause of the Master needed 
the voice and vote of Nicodemus in the Sanhedrin ! We 
know perfectly well that one resolute man can often turn a 
whole assembly when he is acting under profound conviction 
of the truth. There was possibly — who. can tell? — an oppor- 
tunity to swing the leaders of the Jewish nation in behind 
the kingdom of Jesus. 

The only response to this imperial privilege and lost oppor- 
tunity is a mass of expensive spices after the day of battle 
is past. 

"To loyal hearts the value of all gifts 
Must vary as the givers." 

Are w r e living so that, fearless and unashamed, we can 
place our wreath upon the tomb of the next great Christian 
leader who dies ? What would you have done at the grave in 
the garden of Joseph? 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

It is a real joy to watch the movement of Jesus' mind 
in an interview, especially when he is answering, questions. 
He has such quickness of insight and breadth of sympathy 
that he catches his questioner's point of view at once and 
enters into the very spirit of the question. This was ap- 
parent in the case of the Woman of Samaria; it is evident 
in the talk with Nicodemus. Whenever a question is honest, 
Jesus receives and answers it with insight and fairness. 

It was a strange fact that Nicodemus, with all his training 
and natural nobility of spirit, should have stood so bewildered 
before the simple truth that entrance into the life with Christ 

54 



JESUS AND NICODEMUS [V-c] 

must involve an inward change which can best be described 
as a new birth. The illustration is wonderfully clear. Lincoln 
used it with skill in his "Gettysburg Address," when he said: 
"that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of free- 
dom." Through the shattering and constructive experiences 
of a civil war, the great President saw that changes were 
coming in the life of the people which would be nothing less 
than a new birth, or, in the language of the Christian creeds 
and theology, a "regeneration." Such a revolutionary change 
could not be realized at once ; but in its beginning would be 
involved all its later development, as the oak tree lies wrapped 
in the sprouting acorn. But Nicodemus never had thought 
of religion in this vital way. To him it had consisted in rigid 
adherence to a set of ideas which had been pronounced to be 
authoritative. It was expressed in so many formal acts which 
had been defined as appropriate. And his mind could not 
grasp the ideal of a spiritual relationship between the soul 
and God which should embrace and inspire all one's thoughts, 
feelings, and actions. So the old man trained in the schools, 
with his mind encrusted with traditions and formalism, sat 
beside the young man, whose soul was glowing with the 
joy of a life that was free and victorious in the love of God, 
and could only say, "How can these things be?" 

The most profitable impression that we can gain from the 
study of the week is a clear idea of the naturalness and 
power of Jesus' religion. As he describes it to Nicodemus 
in the figure of the new birth we make out its essential marks 
clearly. 

It was vital and not mechanical. The Pharisees were living 
by a system of religious book-keeping. If they washed so 
many times, bowed so often, said so many prayers, fasted 
at proper intervals, they found and pleased God, they thought. 
But Jesus broke the chains of a conception like this with a 
single word, life. It is as if he said, "But you must live 
religiously as you do physically, in most intimate union with 
your Father in heaven. Your spiritual life is as much a part 
of your activity as the beating of your very heart. God is 
nearer to you than the air that fills your lung cells. Love is 
as real as the force that holds you to the earth when you 
walk. Make the practice of the spiritual life the supreme 
part of all your living." 

Then Jesus made it clear that religion is a growing experi- 

55 



[V-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

ence. The child is not born full-grown. Paul, too, was 
fond of the idea "babes in Christ." Our whole life-time on 
earth is simply our opportunity to begin the process of 
spiritual development. Indeed, one of the best descriptions 
of life is "growing a soul." We have no right to expect too 
much in the way of perfect attainment; but we have the 
right to expect that we shall be making progress in the way 
of attainment. 

Another idea that is conveyed by the great figure used 
by Jesus is the wholesome joy and sense of power in normal 
life. Remember how a baby loves to thrust out its arms ; how 
the laugh of triumph comes when the first steps are taken ; 
how full healthy childhood is of the love of life. This was 
precisely what Jesus himself experienced in his religious 
life. He says that he came to the world in order that men 
might have life, not in scanty measure, but "abundantly." 
And so far as we catch the true vision of Jesus from the 
gospel records, he was precisely this sort of a man, rejoicing 
in his world and his work with all the naturalness of a 
healthy child. No whimpering complaints from him ; no 
evasions and cynicisms; but hearty, glad, victorious living! 

And this vital idea of religion which Jesus gave to Nico- 
demus involves the fact of its endlessness. Jesus lived and 
loved with eternity in view, not as a fearful foreboding of 
judgment, but as a real incentive to brave and high service. 
The light and the power of immortality were reflected in 
his happy life. So the fact of immortality was not a truth 
"immortal in the library but dead in the life," as is so often 
the case. 

This is the religion that Jesus had and this is what he 
offers now, as he presented it to Nicodemus in the quiet talk 
which they had together centuries ago. We must not think 
of Christianity as something that has been crystallized in 
creeds or reduced to the form of institutions, so that it has 
ceased to become the power for a new life. Creeds and 
institutions are necessary; but life is still the creative energy 
of Christianity. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 
STUDY 

I. How far can we trust figures and metaphors to explain 
spiritual truth? What is the great danger in their use? 

56 



JESUS AND NICODEMUS [V-c] 

How does the analogy of birth convey the essential truth 
concerning the Christian life? 

2. What is the kingdom of God as Jesus understood it? 

3. To what extent has Jesus justified the claims to authority 
in religion that he is represented as making? 

4. In what ways are we justified in thinking of Jesus as 
saving the world now? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

NlCODEMUS 

1. A timid, politic seeker after truth. 

2. Wise in his knowledge of the world in general, but 
slow to grasp spiritual truth. 

3. A defender of fair play. 

4. Giving belated honor to the Master whom he was too 
timid to follow openly. 

Jesus 

1. Self-possessed in the presence of his official superior. 

2. Speaking with absolute certainty concerning spiritual 
truth. 

3. Daring to declare himself the Saviour of the world, with 
power to draw all men to himself. 

4. Making the supreme declaration concerning God's pur- 
pose for the world. 



57 



A 



CHAPTER VI 

Jesus and Two Sick Men 

DAILY READINGS 

Sixth Week, First Day: "In the Crowded House" 

And when he entered again into Capernaum after some 
days, it was noised that he was in the house. And many 
were gathered together, so that there was no longer room 
for them, no, not even about the door: and he spake the 
word unto them. — Mark 2: 1, 2. 

The sources of Jesus' popularity are not difficult of 
analysis! There was a universal and eager hope among the 
people of a coming Leader. Jesus met this expectation by the 
genuineness of his humanity, the sympathy of his contacts 
with others, and the helpfulness of his words and deeds. He 
used none of the cheap devices by which mere seekers after 
popularity attempt to catch and hold the good-will of the 
crowd ; the reality of his love for others shone through all 
he said and did. He must have responded to this situation 
in Capernaum with the same eagerness which made him for- 
get his physical hunger when he was talking with the Woman 
of Samaria. 

Jesus was compelled to meet a practical temptation. He 
was in danger of being "spoiled by success." But he was 
wise and humble-hearted enough not to be misled by popu- 
larity. He knew that he must depend upon a small number 
of friends whom he could trust to the utmost. He knew that 
he could not rely upon the permanence of popular favor ; 
his divine program for the world required the selection, train- 
ing, and patient guidance of those who would literally repeat 
his life in theirs after he was gone from among them. 
Jesus had the right view of popularity. It was never sought; 
it was not repelled ; but it was not depended upon. 

58 



JESUS AND TWO SICK MEN [VI-2] 

So he constantly narrowed the circle of his intensive work 
from the crowd to the general group of disciples, from these 
to the seventy, then to the twelve, and finally to the three 
comrades of his inmost confidence, Peter, James, and John. 
Where do we belong in reference to the Master? Are we 
merely one of the crowd, responsive but irresponsible, taking 
up space, but not exerting influence? Or have we drawn so 
close to him in loyalty and true devotion that we feel the com- 
pulsion of his commandments and the inspiration of sharing 
his counsels? 

Sixth Week, Second Day: "Love and Faith Will 
Find a Way" 

And behold, men bring on a bed a man that was palsied: 
and they sought to bring him in, and to lay him before 
him. And not finding by what way they might bring him 
in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, 
and let him down through the tiles with his couch into 
the midst before Jesus. — Luke 5: 18, 19. 

Perhaps this cripple had been carried every day on his 
mattress to lie in a public place and beg, like the lame man 
who lay at the Beautiful Gate of the temple (Acts 3: 2-11). 
He was helpless. His hope lay only in the fidelity and ear- 
nestness of his friends. 

They had set out to carry him to Jesus. When they reached 
the house, the room was packed with people ; they could not 
even reach the door with their burden. What is more care- 
less of others than a crowd ! Not a movement did they make 
to let the sick man in. 

But love and faith will find a way. This is a fine piece 
of true comradeship and practical team work. From two to 
four men were required to carry the mattress on which the 
paralytic lay. They may have been kinsmen or neighbors. 
They had doubtless done this service often. But now, as 
never before, the welfare of their friend lay in their hands. 
Imagine their earnest talk as they found themselves shut 
out of the house. Someone suggested the roof. There were 
outside stairs leading up to it. The men made their way 
to the flat roof, one story up, with their burden. Jesus was 
in the room directly beneath. It was a slight task to take 

59 



A 



[VI-3] MEETING THE MASTER 

up .the roofing, although the noise and dust must have been 
an annoyance to those below. When this was done, the 
mattress was lowered by the corners, so that the people in 
the room could reach up and support it until it rested on the 
floor. So the sick man lay in the presence of the Master, 
not because he had found his way there himself, but because 
others had made it possible for him to reach the goal of his 
desire. 

The lesson is full of suggestions as to the way in which 
we are responsible for bringing others to Christ. There are 
many who have heard of him and in their own weak way are 
seeking to approach him. What they need is the help of 
such true comrades and the support of such determined love 
as shall bring them at last face to face with Christ. What 
are we doing to overcome obstacles and break down barriers 
in order to bring others to Christ? 

Sixth Week, Third Day : "The Reward pi Faith" 

And seeing their faith, he said, Man, thy sins are for- 
given thee. — Luke 5: 20. 

Jesus constantly exalted faith as the condition on which 
physical and spiritual blessings were received. As Jesus 
understood faith, what was it? It was not credulity, the 
assent to an absurdity, nor was it the mere acceptance of that 
which cannot be demonstrated. It was essentially trust in 
another, a real transaction based upon mutual confidence. 
It consisted in putting one's self into the hands of another 
and yielding one's welfare confidently to the keeping of a 
second person. This is the "faith of a transaction/' such as 
one exercises when he not only expresses confidence in his 
doctor's skill but actually takes his prescribed medicine and 
submits to guidance. 

The cure of the sick man was conditioned upon the faith 
of his friends. No reference is made to the faith of the 
man himself ; the writer of this gospel conveys the impres- 
sion that it was when Jesus saw the persistent faith of the 
men who carried the mattress that he pronounced the for- 
giveness of the sick man's sins. But undoubtedly the faith 
of the one inspired and strengthened the faith of the other. 
The paralytic gave heart and hope to his friends in their 

60 



JESUS AND TWO SICK MEN [VI-4] 

efforts ; the men who bore the burden of the paralyzed body 
strengthened the faith of their sick comrade. So it is that 
faith strengthens faith and hope quickens hope. How much 
are you doing to vivify the faith of your fellows? And are 
you getting as much renewal of faith from your comrades 
as you might? 

Sixth Week, Fourth Day: "The Word of Au- 
thority" 

And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think 
ye evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, Thy 
sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that 
ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth 
to forgive sins (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), 
Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. And 
he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multi- 
tudes saw it, they were afraid, and glorified God, who had 
given such authority unto men. — Matt. 9: 4-8. 

Once more we trace the character of Jesus in its aspect of 
authority. It appears against the background of the criticisms 
of the scribes, who were prepared to charge Jesus with 
blasphemy because he had dared to tell the paralytic that 
his sins were forgiven. They did not make the open charge ; 
but their whispered conversation was enough to make Jesus 
certain as to what they had in their minds. These men were 
the defenders of the authority of tradition and of the Scrip- 
tures. Jesus was the master of the authority of the soul 
in union with God. 

Every form of sickness was associated in the thought of 
the time with some kind of sin, which was supposed to be the 
cause of the trouble. Jesus accepted the current explanations 
and acted in accord with them. 

Since, therefore, sin was supposed to be the cause of the 
paralytic's infirmity, Jesus goes to the very root of the matter 
and declares that the man's sins are forgiven. This is con- 
sistent with all the thinking and action of the Master. He 
does not treat life in its superficial aspects; he is not in- 
terested in symptoms, but in causes. 

Only one impression could possibly have been made upon 
the people in the crowded house : Jesus was master of the 

61 



[VI-5] MEETING THE MASTER 

situation and had full authority over the case. He was 
perfectly outspoken in claiming it for himself. Those who 
were closest to him in his earthly life were sure that he 
made good with his claim. 

Jesus Christ is our highest spiritual authority. We are 
often restless regarding authority in the spiritual life ; where 
shall it be found? we ask. It is found in Jesus. His experi- 
ence of God assures us that the Father is also the God for 
us. His life is the expression of what we may confidently 
expect to grow toward. In union with him we receive a 
divine power which makes us strong enough to overcome our 
temptations and to realize the ideals which are revealed to us 
in his gloriously victorious life. There are innumerable 
witnesses to the fact that Jesus speaks now, as he did cen- 
turies ago, and assures the soul of the forgiveness of sins 
and of the power to walk strongly in a new life. 

Sixth Week, Fifth Day: "Washed in the Pool of 
Siloam" 

And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. 
And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, 
this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? 
Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin, nor his parents: 
bu*t that the works of God should be made manifest in 
him. We must work the works of him that sent me, 
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 
When I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 
When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and 
made clay of the spittle, and anointed his eyes with the 
clay, and said unto him. Go, wash in the pool of Siloam 
(which is by interpretation, Sent). He went away there- 
fore, and washed, and came seeing. — John 9: 1-7. 

The figure of the blind man was pathetic. He never had 
been able to see at all. He was a practical problem to him- 
self, an economic problem to his family, and a theological 
problem to the scribes, who discussed at length the question 
whether his own sin or that of his parents had brought him 
into calamity. No man wants to be a problem; he wants to 
be a normal man among men. 

Jesus discovers the blind man, perhaps at the temple gate. 
He refuses to become entangled in the wearisome discussions 

62 



JESUS AXD TWO SICK MEN [VI-6] 

of the scribes. If there is an explanation of the blindness, 
he affirms,, it must lie in the fact that the mercy of God is to 
find an expression through it. The case seems urgent to the 
M aster. He cannot overlook or forget it ; the overwhelming 
sense of mission and pressing opportunity rests upon him. 

He is tremendously in earnest; yet he does not fret. There 
is no trace of worry in his actions ; yet he proceeds as if 
every moment were precious and every opportunity to help 
someone were truly a gift of God. How can we unite these 
two ways of living: first, such a sense of the urgency of 
life as will drive us into every experience with the determina- 
tion to use it up to the full limit of its possibility as an 
opportunity for useful service ; second, such a consciousness 
of the fact that we can rely upon the help and power of God 
that we shall not dissipate any energy in mere fretfulness or 
be anything else than brave and calm? 

Jesus said that this man had been born blind, in order that 
the power and mercy of God might be expressed in his experi- 
ence and example. Is it right to say that every man's life 
is a plan of God? How can we escape fatalism in affirming 
this? How do our own daily lives furnish a revelation of 
the mercy and love of God? 

Sixth Week, Sixth Day: "Knowing One Thing" 

So they called a second time the man that was blind, 
and said unto him, Give glory to God: we know that this 
man is a sinner. He therefore answered, Whether he is 
a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I 
was blind, now I see. They said therefore unto him, 
What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? He 
answered them, I told you even now, and ye did not hear; 
wherefore would ye hear it again? would ye also become 
his disciples? And they reviled him, and said, Thou art 
his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses. We know that 
God hath spoken unto Moses: but as for this man, we 
know not whence he is. The man answered and said 
unto them, Why, herein is the marvel, that ye know not 
whence he is, and yet he opened mine eyes. We know 
that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a wor- 
shipper of God, and do his will, him he heareth. Since 
the world began it was never heard that any one opened 
the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were net from 
God, he could do nothing. — John 9: 24-34. 

63 



[VI-7] MEETING THE MASTER 

This man who had been physically blind all his life seems 
to have cultivated a wonderful power to see straight mentally. 
He had no theories by which he forced the explanation of 
his experiences ; he brought his theories out of his experi- 
ences. He had met Jesus in a great moment. The result 
was a new power — he could see. And he formed his opinion 
of the Man who had helped him into light and joy from that 
fact, and not from what anyone else was saying or thinking 
about Jesus. 

Then came the Pharisees. They had a definite theory con- 
cerning Jesus. And they insisted that the man who had been 
blind should think in their way. He, in turn, insisted that 
he should be permitted to reach his own decision in the light 
of his own experience. They affirmed that Jesus was a 
sinner and he affirmed that the actual deeds and manifest 
character of Jesus should be made the basis of judgment. 
The Pharisees were intensely logical. They reasoned like 
this : No sinner could do a good deed ; Jesus is a sinner ; 
therefore Jesus did not make the blind man see. But the 
man was in no way disturbed by their logical conclusion. 
He simply looked at them and said, "But I can see, and this 
man made it possible." The happy man could not share 
their theories ; he could know only the facts of which he was 
personally conscious. Knowing these, he was sure that he 
had met a man who had power and to whom he owed his 
sight. 

Our safe path to our fundamental doctrines is through 
our experience, as the blind man found it, and not to our 
experience through our doctrines, as the scribes tried to 
force him to go. Doctrine and life are both necessary; but 
life comes first. The scribes lost Christ through bondage 
to their theories ; the blind man found him through simple 
trust in a personal experience. The former experienced 
theology; the latter, religion. 

Sixth Week, Seventh Day: "Finding the Son of 
God" 

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and finding 
him, he said, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He 
answered and said, And who is he, Lord, that I may be- 
lieve on him? Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen 

64 



JESUS AND TWO SICK MEN [VI-7] 

him, and he it is that speaketh with thee. And he said, 
Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. And Jesus 
said, For judgment came I into this world, that they that 
see not may see; and that they that see may become blind. 
Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these 
things, and said unto him, Are we also blind? — John 9: 
35-40. 

Compare this paragraph with the study of the Woman of 
Samaria. Jesus again declares his divine character, this 
time to a man who must have led a cramped life, inasmuch 
as he had been struggling with the handicap of blindness 
since his birth. But he is ready to accept the evidence and 
give his allegiance to Jesus. Once more the Master wins a 
soul that is untrained in the technicalities of religion. The 
religious experts of the day scorned Jesus ; the common 
people heard him gladly. 

The direct answers of Jesus to the man and his somewhat 
puzzling answers to the Pharisees are an interesting example 
of the way in which he adapts his teaching to the mental 
and spiritual level of his hearers. The Pharisees delighted 
in argumentation and involved statements. So Jesus met them 
on their own ground. 

How easy it would have been for the man to have given 
himself up so completely, first to joy in his new-found world, 
and, second, to dismal complaint that he had been expelled 
from the synagogue, that he w r ould have had no interest 
in the character of his great Benefactor ! But he yielded 
neither to joy nor to sorrow. He kept his heart and his 
interests right and was ready to know Jesus better, in order 
that he might believe on him more fully. 

When we describe Jesus as the Son of God we mean all 
that can , possibly be involved in our highest and ideal 
conception of the relation of a human son to his father. 
It is no more difficult for us to believe on Christ as the Son 
of the Father than it was for the man born blind. We 
cannot, of course, stand in the same physical relationship to 
him, for Jesus of Nazareth is no longer living in a human 
body. But we can establish and maintain the same moral and 
spiritual relationship. To act from the same motives as those 
which controlled Jesus is to become really one with him. 
We can love, trust, and obey Jesus Christ now, as truly 

65 



[VI-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

as the blind man did, by yielding the same allegiance to his 
personal authority. 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

The paralytic let down through the roof is one of the most 
striking examples in the Bible of the utter helplessness of 
certain phases of human life. Everything depends upon the 
service that others are ready to render. If constant care had 
not surrounded this poor cripple, he would have died a linger- 
ing death. But even in an age when there was no such degree 
of human pity and tenderness as there is now in the world, 
friends were ready to give up their comfort and ease and work 
hard for the welfare of a comrade. So, although this man 
says and does nothing and seems to be the least suggestive 
and interesting of the characters that Jesus meets, in fact 
he represents that great mass of humanity, powerless and 
pitiful, dependent and wretched, for whom all those who 
love and sympathize must toil and sacrifice. They would 
be lost without the help of others. They are saved by the 
faith and service of their comrades. 

But these weak ones do something for their strong and 
healthy fellows which is vital and essential. Without the 
challenge and claim of palsied humanity, the world would 
soon grow callous and cynical. It is the constant presence of 
suffering that helps keep alive the tenderest and noblest 
graces of human life. Without intending to do so, the para- 
lytic performed a priceless service to his friends. He helped 
keep them generous and kind. No price was too great to 
pay for this gift. 

The blind man is a character of quite another sort. He 
is handicapped, but not helpless. He can do something for 
his own recovery. He has faith for himself and is not 
wholly dependent upon that of his friends. His most sig- 
nificant characteristic, however, is his straightforward be- 
havior in the face of the theological squabbles of the Pharisees 
and scribes. He was ignorant of their theories and unin- 
terested in their debates ; but he went to the root of the situa- 
tion straight as an arrow. They might argue all day and all 
night ; he got at the truth in a minute. He could see now, 
although he had been blind all his life before. The man who 
made it possible for him to look at a new world with healthy 

66 



JESUS AXD TWO SICK MEN [VI-c] 

eyes could not be bad, whatever the theologians might prove 
by their logic or their traditions. Things were different with 
him and that gave him the basis for his reasoning. He is 
the hard-headed reasoner from the realities of experience. 

This man is also a fine type of the person who endures the 
loss of reputation and position in the defense of what he 
knows to be right and true. To be excommunicated meant 
to lose standing and privileges in the community. It was no 
slight matter. One with less stamina in his character might 
have dodged and compromised and thus kept both his physical 
eyesight and his social standing. But the man stood true as 
steel in the test of his sincerity. And when they finally put 
him out, he stood in the integrity of his own self-respect and 
never whimpered or grew sour. It is a fine example of the 
way in which to meet hard experiences in social relations. 
No weakling bears humiliation in this fine temper. 

As we sketch the outlines of the character of Jesus from 
these two scenes, we are uncertain as to where he is the 
greater, whether in meeting the annoyance of falling dust 
and a crowded room, or in making the most challenging claims 
for himself that ever have come from human lips. 

Jesus is great in the midst of the crowd in the house when 
the paralyzed man is lowered into his presence. It was a dis- 
turbing experience. There is many a man who can bear 
himself like a hero in a conspicuous place and can endure 
all kinds of severe tests in public; but he goes to pieces over 
trifles and under little irritations loses his self-mastery dis- 
gracefully. But Jesus does not scold when the plaster falls 
or break into a passion when there is a disturbance in his 
audience. He is as serene and kind when the circumstances 
are annoying as he is when everything unites to help him in 
his teaching. 

Again we see Jesus making the most exalted claims for 
himself. To call himself the Light of the World and the 
Son of God is most audacious. And there is no mere hint- 
ing at the claim ; it is positive and explicit. When men 
revere him he does not refuse to accept their homage. But 
he does it with the simplicity of one who makes his claim 
good in the very act. Think of the way in which Caesar 
or Napoleon would have received the adoration and loyalty 
of others ! Jesus took it all naturally and was in no way 
distracted by it. Thus his conduct fits his claim. He acts 

67 



[VI-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

as one would have acted who was what he claimed to be. It 
is a wonderful confirmation of the Master's words by his 
deeds. 

It was almost impossible for Jesus to make the true impres- 
sion which his personality ought to have made because he 
was obliged all the time to contend with the false ideas about 
him. He had either to be himself or to conform to the 
traditional ideas. He chose to be true to himself, as he only 
could have done ; but it cost him his life in the end. It is 
thus that tradition and conventional ideas always seek to 
bend every soul to their shape. Only those who have a clear 
consciousness of their personal integrity refuse to yield. 
The Pharisees could not make Jesus conform; so they killed 
him. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

1. In the Orient sin and sickness were supposed to be re- 
lated as cause and effect. To what extent is this idea true? 

2. By what other figures than light did Jesus describe his 
character and mission? 

3. What part must we ourselves perform in securing the 
benefits which Christ is ready to bestow upon us? 

4. When you use the words "Son of God" in reference to 
Jesus Christ, what do the words mean to you? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

The Paralytic 

1. Utterly dependent upon the help of others, especially 
upon their resourcefulness. 

2. Profiting by the faith and practical help of comrades. 

3. Forgiven and restored to health by Jesus. 

The Blind Man 

1. Suffering the handicap of blindness from his birth. 

2. Obediently assisting in his own cure. 

3. Clear and positive in his interpretation of his own ex- 
perience and refusing to be confused by the theories of others. 

4. Suffering for Christ's sake. 

68 



JESUS AND TWO SICK MEN [VI-c] 

5. Eager to know more of Christ; not satisfied with his 
present experience. 

6. Loyally revering the Master. 

Jesus 

1. Commanding popular attention; pressed by the crowd; 
successfully meeting the test of popularity. 

2. Talking about religion; teaching truth adapted to life; 
healing. and helping all sorts and conditions of men. 

3. Undisturbed by small annoyances. 

4. Recognizing and approving the faith of men. 

5. Forgiving sins. 

6. The Light of the World. 

7. Suffering from prejudice and false theories. 

8. Claiming positively to be the Son of God. 

9. Adapting his statements of truth to the need and strength 
of his hearers. 



69 



CHAPTER VII . 

Jesus and Simon Peter 

DAILY READINGS 

Seventh Week, First Day: "The New Man with 
the New Name" 

One of the two that heard John speak, and followed 
him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He flndeth first 
his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have 
found the Messiah (which is, being interpreted, Christ). 
He brought him unto Jesus. Jesus looked upon him, 
and said, Thou art Simon the son of John: thou shalt be 
called Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter). — John 
i: 40-42. 

In Oriental life the name of a person was more intimately 
connected with character than it is with us. When the 
character changed the name was changed. Simon Johnson 
was one of the most familiar names of the day. It denoted 
simply an ordinary character without any especial distinction. 
Cephas or Peter, on the other hand, meant a rock — that is, 
something outstanding and durable. In this commonplace 
character, this fisherman, there was latent a person of dis- 
tinction and power. Simon had not made this discovery 
up to the time that he met Jesus. He had never understood 
himself as anything more than the hard-working son of 
John, living a plain life, and exerting only the ordinary in- 
fluence of a fisherman. It is the greatest day in our lives 
when we catch -the vision of what we may become through 
our relation with Christ. 

No comrade or friend ever had told Simon that he had 
in him the possibility of becoming Peter. Jesus was the first 
man who ever looked straight into Simon's eyes, saw into 
the very depths of his soul, and then told him that he had 

70 



JESUS AND SIMON PETER [VII-2] 

resources and possibilities there of which he did not dream. 
Jesus had this power of clairvoyance in discovering the best 
that was in everyone whom he met. He saw something to 
which others were blind. Weak and wicked women appeared 
to him in the pure light of their possible recovery through 
the redemptive power of love and faith. So Jesus spoke to 
the undiscovered best in everyone, arousing ambition, quick- 
ening new energies for the struggle into a nobler life. The 
Master speaks to us today, telling us that we are something 
better than appears on the surface of our lives and command- 
ing us and cheering us as we undertake the climb to the 
heights. 

It could not come in a day, however. Simon must become 
Peter. That involved struggle and occasional failure. The 
man must fight for every attainment and hold his gains at the 
price of vigil and pain. But Jesus would add himself to 
his friend's endeavor. What progress are we making in the 
movement toward our possible best? Is Christ a factor in 
the process? 

Seventh Week, Second Day: "The Great Confes- 
sion" 

Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, 
he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that the 
Son of man is? And they said, Some say John the 
Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the 
prophets. He saith unto them, But who say ye that I 
am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered 
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- Jonah: 
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 
my Father who is in heaven. And I also say unto thee, 
that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against 
it. I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven: and whatsoever thou shaft bind on earth shall 
be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on 
earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he the 
disciples that they should tell no man that he was the 
Christ. — Matt. 16: 13-20. 

This incident reveals with wonderful clearness the character 
of Peter. He is the natural spokesman of the other disciples 

7i 



[VII-3] MEETING THE MASTER 

when an expression of opinion is called for. They had heard 
and were able to report the common talk of the people; he 
had made up his mind. They had been listening; he had been 
thinking. 

This "Great Confession" of Peter is not a mere theory 
about Jesus. It represents not merely his opinion concern- 
ing Jesus, but his personal loyalty to Christ. He may fail 
again and again to live up to it; but this specific and hearty 
affirmation represents what Peter regards in his inmost heart 
as the substance of his loyalty to Jesus. His Master is the 
revelation of God to him, and he gives him the reverence, 
the obedience, and the trust that are due to such a Lord of 
personal life. This is Peter's theology; but it is also his 
ruling motive and working principle for daily living. His 
character is being made by his creed; his conduct is being 
shaped by his theology. Such a faith is the mightiest force 
in the making of character; it is creative energy for the pro- 
duction of manhood and womanhood. 

The connection between our fundamental idea about Christ 
and our daily life is that of cause and effect. To acknowl- 
edge Jesus as Lord means to conform our life to his ideal. 
If Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, then he is our Master; 
if he is our Master, then we must strive with all our power 
to become like him by doing his will. In this way our supreme 
creed, our living conviction about Jesus, becomes moral and 
spiritual energy, transforming our life. Impatience with 
creeds as mere ends in themselves is well founded. But 
creeds that really take hold on life and shape conduct to 
Christlike ends are the most noble and necessary factors 
in everyday living. Thus Christ becomes the most necessary 
item in our fundamental thought about life. His person is 
too great to be avoided; his claim is too imperative to be 
ignored. So the question comes home to everyone with chal- 
lenging power: "What does Jesus mean to me?" 

Seventh Week, Third Day: "A Complete Conse- 
cration" 

Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing 
that his hour was come that he should depart out of this 
world unto the Father, having loved his own that were 
in the world, he loved them unto the end. And during 

72 



JESUS AND SIMON PETER [VII-3] 

supper, the devil having already put into the heart of 
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing 
that the Father had given all things into his hands, and 
that he came forth from God, and goeth unto God, riseth 
from supper, and layeth aside his garments; and he took 
a towel, and girded himself. Then he poureth water into 
the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to 
wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. So 
he cometh to Simon Peter. He saith unto him. Lord, 
dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto 
him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt 
understand hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt 
never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee 
not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto 
him, Lord, not my feet only, but. also my hands and my 
head. — John 13: 1-9. 

As Jesus reached Peter in performing his humble and sig- 
nificant task for the disciples, the thought that must have 
been in all their minds leaped into words. Peter was always 
the spokesman for them in such situations ; his quick impulses 
made it inevitable that he should speak. Stress the word 
Lord and accent the pronouns thou and my in strong contrast, 
in order to get the meaning of Peter's question. His reverence 
is revealed in his words. The disciples never regarded Jesus 
as precisely like them or their equal. At every point in their 
association they reveal their instinctive reverence for their 
Master. Peter is the one who most of all displays this 
mood. He is reverent in his relations with Christ. We cannot 
gain the full spiritual benefit from our relations with Chrisf 
unless we revere him as Master and Lord. 

When a blessing was coming, Peter wanted it all. If a 
consecration was to be made, he was prepared, at least in 
his eager words, to go the entire limit. No fragments suited 
him ; nothing but the whole loaf was his demand. At least 
in his promises Peter held nothing back. It is a manly 
response. God can do everything with fully consecrated lives ; 
and much of our offering is so stingy! 

This scene is one of the great revelations of the inmost 
nature of Jesus. When there was no servant to do it and 
a humble task was therefore not being accomplished, it was 
he who took the basin and towel and did the work quietly 
and graciously himself. This is the sacrament of service. 
Jesus never was greater in any human situation, except his 

73 



[VII-4] MEETING THE MASTER 

death, than he was here in the chamber with his friends, doing 
the humblest duty for them in the holiest spirit. This is 
the revelation of the heart of God and the definition of the 
law which ought to be the guide of everyone in daily life. 

Seventh Week, Fourth Day: "The Sifting" 

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that 
he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for 
thee, that thy faith fail not; and do thou, when once thou 
hast turned again, establish thy brethren. And he said 
unto him, Lord, with thee I am ready to go both to prison 
and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock 
shall not crow this day, until thou shalt thrice deny that 
thou knowest me. — Luke 22: 31-34. 

Peter's boast of loyalty to death is so consistent with his 
character. as we have studied it! Whenever there is an oppor- 
tunity to rush into a situation and head up a movement, there 
he is, leading the van. No warning deters him. It seems 
as if he would have caught the sobering meaning of the 
Master's hint that he w r as to be sifted as wheat. But he ap- 
pears to have lost instantly any sense of caution that might 
have been awakened, and he is sure that he can go to the 
limit of prison and death with his Master. Is he simply a 
boaster? Would he have done better had he kept silent? 
Being the man he was, could he have kept silent? 

The insight of Jesus is shown in his kind and warning 
counsel to his impetuous disciple. He was frank with him, 
telling him that temptations were coming which would sift 
the wheat from the chaff of his life and make him worth 
something to God and his fellow-men. This was faithful 
dealing with Peter. It would have been easier to have said 
pleasant words only ; but that would not have helped in the 
process of bringing Peter out of Simon. 

But Jesus was also reassuring. He told Peter that he would 
win the battle by the power of a steadfast faith. Jesus always 
dealt with people on the basis of hope. The accent of despair 
never is once heard in the talks which Jesus had with all 
kinds of people in all sorts of circumstances. The Master's 
glorious optimism, which never blinks the facts or ignores 
the conflict, is like the morning light to weary watchers for 
the dawn. Such superb hopefulness brings courage and a 

74 



JESUS AND SIMON PETER [VII-5] 

renewed determination to keep up the fight. When Jesus 
speaks to us we feel that there is only one thing to do ; we 
must go forward. 

Then Jesus told Peter that he would gain something from 
his struggle that would be vital in the experience of others. 
He was not fighting alone. The welfare of those whom he 
did not know and might never see was bound up with his 
victory. Peter's brave fight was to become the source of 
courage and strength to his brethren. How true this state- 
ment is ! The number of souls that have been steadied in 
their wavering hours by the example and victory of Peter 
cannot be counted. How our battle goes is not our concern 
alone. Others lose or win according to the way we fight. 

Seventh Week, Fifth Day: "The Denial" 

And they that had taken Jesus led him away to the 
house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and 
the elders were gathered together. But Peter followed 
him afar off, unto the court of the high priest, and entered 
in, and sat with the officers, to see the end. . . . Now 
Peter was sitting without in the court: and a maid came 
unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilaean. 
But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what 
thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, 
another maid saw him, and saith unto them that were 
there, This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth. And 
again he denied with an oath, I know not the man. And 
after a little while they that stood by came and said to 
Peter, Of a truth thou also art one of them; for thy speech 
maketh thee known. Then began he to curse and to swear, 
I know not the man. And straightway the cock crew. 
And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, 
Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And 
he went out, and wept bitterly. — Matt. 26: 57, 58, 69-75. 

What a tragic contrast lies in the words "afar off" when we 
compare them with the recent boast, "Lord, with thee I am 
ready to go both to prison and to death" (Luke 22: 33). 
The boastful comrade in suffering has become the idle spec- 
tator following afar off. 

How could Peter have done this? When his mother 
asked him a similar question about a wrong act, a small 
boy answered with great sincerity, "Easy, Mamma, easy." 

75 



[VII-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

Let us not be too severe in our judgment of Peter. Do 
we not make similar and almost as great mistakes? Note 
the occasion of the denial. It was a situation in which it 
would cost Peter something to be loyal to Jesus. 

And it was a fair question as to whether Peter's champion- 
ship at this time would have done Jesus any practical good. 
He was on trial in the palace and a rumpus in the courtyard 
might have done injury to him. Did Peter reason the matter 
out in this way; or did he just collapse without any reflection 
as to the situation or its consequences? 

He broke down before a girl's ridicule. It seems so use- 
less ! Perhaps if it had been a conspicuous place in which 
he was being tested out, Peter would have stood firm as a 
rock for his Master. If they had called him into the palace 
and put him on the witness stand, probably he would have 
given his testimony immediately and positively. But this test 
was sprung on him suddenly, and he failed when he might 
have proved his loyalty at such small cost. Three times in 
succession and each time more disgraceful than the preceding ! 
It is pitiful. 

But that figure of the strong man crumpled in grief as 
he realizes what he has done wins our confidence again. The 
root of Peter is in Simon still, and it will spring into fruitful 
life once more, even from the bitter watering of repentant 
tears. How it costs to fail ! When we pay the price of 
treason with tears we know how bitter it all was. 

Seventh Week, Sixth Day: "At the Empty Tomb" 

She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, 
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith 
unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the 
tomb, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter 
therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they 
went toward the tomb. And they ran both together: and 
the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the 
tomb; and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen 
cloths lying; yet entered he not in. Simon Peter there- 
fore also cometh, following him, and entered into the 
tomb; and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and the 
napkin, that was upon his head, not lying with the linen 
cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then entered 
in therefore the other disciple also, who came first to the 
tomb, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew 

76 



JESUS AXD SIMON PETER [VII-7] 

not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 
So the disciples went away again unto their own home. — 
John 20: 2-10. 

If the fact of the denial of his Master by Peter had be- 
come known by the disciples it surely had not impaired their 
confidence in him to any great degree, for it was to him and 
John that Mary rushed with the news that the tomb was 
empty. This was in no sense an official superiority, but it 
was a natural leadership arising from the qualities that Peter 
had displayed and his nearness to Jesus. 

There is no treatment of this incident which can surpass 
in its insight and suggestiveness the way in which it is 
handled by Rev. Horace Bushnell in his great sermon entitled 
"Unconscious Influence." He shows how John and Peter came 
to the door of the tomb ; how John hesitated and Peter rushed 
in ; how John then followed Peter, influenced to do so by his 
friend's resolute action. Peter did not plan to influence John 
in this way; John did not deliberate before he responded. 
Each acted without conscious purpose. Thus, Dr. Bushnell 
says, we are always silently and mightily shaping each other's 
lives, not by what we decide to do, but by the way we act, 
without any conscious purpose to affect the lives of others. 
Review the most important decisions which you have made. 
Did you appreciate that they were such at the time? Were 
the influences acting upon you then those that had been de- 
liberately arranged for? Or were they of the kind that may 
be classed as "unconscious influence" ? The way in which to 
exert a constant unconscious influence for Christ upon others 
is to keep ourselves tuned to a high pitch of personal loyalty 
to the Master. Those who put forth the strongest influence 
for Christ do not constantly plan to do it ; they simply keep 
themselves so spiritually "fit" that they do it all the time and 
without planning to do it at all. 

Seventh Week, Seventh Day: "The Last Com- 
mand" 

So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to 
Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more 
than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest 
that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 
He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, 

77 



[VII-7] MEETING THE MASTER 

lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou 
knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Tend my 
sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of 
John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said 
unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said 
unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest 
that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 
Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved 
following; who also leaned back on his breast at the 
supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee? 
Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what 
shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that 
he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. 
This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that 
that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, 
that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I 
come, what is that to thee? — John 21: 15-17; 20-23. 



Three times the question, "Lovest thou me?" is pressed 
home to Peter's mind, a keen reminder of the three times 
that he had denied Jesus. The time has come for him to be 
certain beyond any possible doubt that he is loyal to his 
Master with a love that could endure all tests and strains. 
There is only one force that can hold one steadfast through 
every possible experience — it is the power of love. Peter 
came at last to the point where he could repeat three times his 
final confession of faith, which was an expression not of a 
doctrine about Jesus, but of personal love for Jesus. Then 
the Master knew that he could be depended upon for all the 
days to come. 

The question that came to Peter's lips regarding John was 
natural. He desired to know what his comrade was to do. 
Then he would have a standard for guidance. But Jesus 
brought Peter sharply up to the fact that he was responsible 
for his own line of action, regardless of what another disci- 
ple was to do. Peter needed to act independently. The 
standards of others were not to determine his ideals. No 
feeble imitator of another can ever be a true man. 

Peter appears here as the lover, the servant, and the fol- 
lower of Jesus. The last is the most significant. To follow 
Christ does not mean to imitate him in any slavish way, but 
rather to act from the same great motives which controlled 
him in his unselfish and happy life. Can we honestly accept 

78 



JESUS AND SIMON PETER [VII-c] 

for ourselves these three names — lover, servant, follower of 
Christ? 

The sublime picture of Jesus in this scene commands our 
reverence. He dares to make himself the center around which 
the love and the action of others may gather. He is supreme 
in the thoughts and deeds of those who accept his master- 
ship. Jesus assumes this place of moral and spiritual sov- 
ereignty with no apology. He takes it by native right. Have 
we accepted this claim of his and are we living in loyalty to it? 



COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

In selecting those features of the character of Peter that 
seem most worth}- of study, we are struck by the wealth of 
material at hand. He is presented to us in almost every phase 
of his development. And the impression of his large humanity 
is clear. He is a living man. We can match every charac- 
teristic by some experience out of our own lives that cor- 
responds to it with almost startling vividness. 

That struggle of the worse and the better man in him is 
so like our own conflicts ! At one moment the possible 
Peter stands out as clear as a mountain after a shower ; then 
in a moment the clouds of treachery and profanity shut it 
all out of view. He can frame a creed that is sufficient for 
the ages to think about at one instant; at the next Jesus has 
to shock him back into reverence by calling him Satan. It 
is just such a confusion of the two natures struggling within 
us as we all understand. 

There is a fine test of the character of a true creed in 
the Master's words to Peter at the time he made the Great 
Confession. Jesus speaks about building upon him and his 
creed. It is an excellent test. We never really believe any- 
thing fully until we do build our lives upon it. That is a 
fair test to apply to our confessions of faith. Are we actu- 
ally building character upon them? Do they lie beneath the 
activities of everyday life as durable and deep foundations? 
If they do, we may feel sure that they are creeds in the 
true sense of the word. For a confession of faith must have 
power in it to change life and create character. That which 
we believe in this way makes a difference in our lives ; and 
only that which makes such a difference is true for us. 

79 



[VII-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

Jesus knew the value of experience when he told Peter 
that after he had been through the deep waters of repentance 
he must strengthen his friends. And yet how strange it is 
that we are all bound to be explorers for ourselves ! All 
the warnings that are issued by our comrades who have 
been through the way of discipline and pain do not deter us 
from exploring the unknown path. So, while Peter could 
issue his warning, he could not save an unwilling comrade 
from going past the danger sign if he chose to do so. In 
spite of its limits, however, the help of those who have met 
and passed through deep temptation counts for something 
in our moral struggle. We do learn something from example. 
Peter could strengthen his brethren better after his trial 
than he could have d6ne if he never had suffered. 

The coward is latent in the best of us. Cowardice is one 
of the strongest forces that are at work in the destruction 
of character. But the best soldiers tell us that they were 
afraid to the point of trembling before the battle began. The 
man who seemed to have no fear whatever was not the most 
effective soldier; it was the man who dreaded to go in and 
then went through in spite of his fear who fought best. To 
feel fear is no wrong; the failure lies in yielding to it, so 
that we do not do our duty when the call to battle comes. It 
is possible to overcome our fears somewhat by sternly con- 
quering them in the struggle ; but it is quite likely that we 
never shall cease to tremble. Probably it is better that it 
should be so. We learn how much we depend upon help 
from God. 

How wisely Jesus led Peter along in the way of teaching 
and service. He never shielded him so completely that the 
winds of temptation did not whip him into consciousness of 
his weakness. But when Peter lost his nerve and failed, 
the Master helped him to recover. So Peter learned his les- 
sons and profited by his experiences, until at last he was 
master over himself. It cost bitter tears and many a conflict, 
but the reward was worth the struggle. 

When at last Simon had become Peter the sum could have 
been represented mathematically by such a statement as this : 
Simon + Jesus = Peter. There had been something more than 
a mere development in the process. The latent Peter in Simon 
did not work out under merely natural conditions and with 
no external aid. Jesus added himself to Simon in order to 

80 



JESUS AND SIMON PETER [VII-c] 

make Peter possible. There came a new energy into the 
movement of Simons life ; it was personal ; it was nothing 
less than Christ himself. Perhaps we can discover an ex- 
planation of this fact in the terms of psychology. But whether 
we can or not, the fact itself is perfectly apparent. Jesus 
tried to indicate it by the illustration of the branch and the 
vine; he asserted it in his words about his "abiding in" his 
disciples. These deepest experiences of the spiritual life 
never can be put into definitions. They can only be de- 
scribed. Therefore when we say that Jesus adds himself as 
personal power to the struggle of those who are living in 
loyal allegiance to him, we are trying to express a fact of 
experience in the terms of a sum in arithmetic. It is a poor 
figure at best, as are all others which can be employed to 
explain one of the most rich and real occurrences in the 
development of the soul. But it is something that can be 
enjoyed by everyone, and the understanding of it is not 
necessary to the experience. 

The noblest line in the character of Peter is his personal 
love for Jesus, that made him ready to go anywhere or do 
anything that w r ould serve his Master's cause. It is love 
of this kind that holds the kingdom of God together. And 
there is no higher use of one's life possible than to devote 
it to service for Christ. This is what gives precision of aim 
and joy in work to Christian disciples. They find that Peter's 
way is the only one that brings meaning and satisfaction 
into the day's work. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 
STUDY 

i. How does one really fashion a confession of faith? 
Write in the simplest form you can what you believe, testing 
each item by whether or not it is a working principle in your 
daily life. 

2. What service in modern life is like that which Jesus 
performed for the disciples ; and how can we best render it 
in our own circle? 

3. What are some of the experiences that sift the modern 
Christian as wheat? 

4. What is real repentance? 

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[VII-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

Simon Peter 

1. A fisherman, rough and impetuous, but capable of becom- 
ing the Rock. 

2. Ready to put his faith into the form of an affirmation 
as the spokesman of the disciples. 

3. Not contented with half-way measures of any sort. 

4. Impetuously denying Christ, then repenting and weeping 
bitterly. 

5. Becoming finally the durable foundation character, able 
to strengthen his brethren and feed the flock of Christ. 

Jesus 

I I. Discerning the man's better nature, calling it into action 
and working with Simon to help him to become Peter. 

2. Accepting the title Christ and declaring that those who 
were united in him should finally conquer evil. 

3. Showing by personal example that the test of true great- 
ness is the service that it can render to those who need help. 

4. Forgiving the traitor. 

5. Making love for him the supreme motive of the highest 
service that can possibly be rendered to others. 



82 



CHAPTER VIII 

Jesus at the House of Simon 

DAILY READINGS 

Eighth Week, First Day: "The Alabaster Cruse" 

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would 
eat with him. And he entered into the Pharisee's house, 
and sat down to meat. And behold, a woman who was 
in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was 
sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought an 
alabaster cruse of ointment, and standing behind at his 
feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, 
and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his 
feet, and anointed them with the ointment. — Luke 7: 36-38. 

At an Oriental feast there was no such privacy as we demand 
in our homes. The public was permitted and expected to 
watch the guests. It was quite good form to enter the room 
and to approach as close to a guest as the woman came to 
Jesus. The feasters reclined on couches instead of sitting 
on chairs ; therefore it was easy to come closely into contact 
with the feet of a guest. As one entered the house, the 
sandals were taken off and a servant poured fresh water over 
the feet, in order to remove the dust and to cool them. 
This was an act of courtesy which would not be neglected 
by a true host. 

It was therefore perfectly possible for this woman to come 
into Simon's house and to approach Jesus, although she was 
not an invited guest. We do not know when or how Jesus 
and the woman had met. It is most likely that they were 
not strangers. Her act would not be reasonable, except on 
the ground of some previous acquaintance. We know that 
Jesus was constantly among the people and that he was 
especially attractive to those whom men generally despised. 
So it is most reasonable to think that in some way Jesus 
had laid his strong hand on this woman's life and had changed 
its current and direction. For this she was unspeakably 

83 



[VIII-2] MEETING THE MASTER 

grateful. When she Saw an opportunity to express her 
gratitude, she took advantage of it. 

So she brought the most precious thing that she owned and, 
utterly regardless of criticism or cost, she broke the flask 
of perfume over the neglected feet of the Master. This woman 
represents all those loyal lovers of Christ who stand ready 
to give him as a sign of their devotion and gratitude some- 
thing that really costs. Devotion that involves no expense 
means nothing. It is an easy matter to give Christ the odd 
ends of our hours and the waste products of our powers. 
But are we giving Christ something that is truly precious 
and involves sacrifice? He deserves nothing less than the 
supreme treasure of the soul. 

Eighth Week, Second Day: "The Critic's Oppor- 
tunity" 

Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he 
spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a 
prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of 
woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. — 
Luke 7: 39. 

The Pharisee had done nothing to protect his guest from 
contacts which called out his self-righteous criticism. Of 
course, no Pharisee would have permitted himself to come 
into contact with anyone who bore the reputation of this 
woman. The Pharisee believed that the genius of religion 
was separation. Therefore he emphasized, as giving his reli- 
gion its sanction, the number of human relations from which 
that religion shut him out. 

Jesus had the other point of view. He estimated the worth 
of his religion by the number of wholesome relationships 
and useful services that it enabled him to form and render. 
He knew what kind of a woman was standing at his feet 
far better than the Pharisee understood her. Simon was 
accepting the judgment of the community; Jesus was guided 
by his knowledge of the motives of her life. The proud and 
pious Pharisee drew his garments aside, that they might not 
touch those whom he branded unclean ; Jesus extended the 
folds of his seamless cloak to cover all penitent and seeking 
souls who needed his pardon and help. 



JESUS AT THE HOUSE OF SIMON [VIII-3] 

We can easily imagine how the woman suffered, as she 
heard the names by which she was called in the community. 
It only intensified her bitterness and confirmed her in the way 
she was living. The more plainly the community calls its 
unfortunate members hard names, the wider is the gulf be- 
tween those who can help and those who ought to be saved. 
Giving people hard titles does nobody any good. 

Jesus was obliged to meet criticism at Simon's feast be- 
cause his action ran counter to the conventional standards. 
Jesus had not broken over the customary ways of treating 
the outcasts of the community for the mere pleasure of being 
a social rebel ; he had not met the woman when he was 
"slumming." He had found her at the point of her deepest 
desire, because he was the Saviour of the world. This com- 
pelled him to break to pieces some of the conventional social 
standards. The Master's critics did not understand his ideal 
of the worth of the soul and the brotherhood of men. It is 
impossible now to act wholly from motives identical with 
his and not be misunderstood and criticized. What shall we 
do when our Christian ideal contravenes the popular judg- 
ment as to what is socially "good form"? 

Eighth Week, Third Day: "The Parable of the 
Forgiven Servants" 

And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have 
somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Teacher, say 
on. A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five 
hundred shillings, and the other fifty. When they had 
not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which 
of them therefore will love him most? Simon answered 
and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most. 
And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. — Luke 
7:40-43. 

Imagine the quiet courtesy with which Jesus spoke to 
Simon. There was nothing loud or harsh about his tone or 
manner. But the Master was deeply sensitive to the personal 
slight that he had received, and he was too much of a gentle- 
man to ignore it or to complain about it. 

Once more we see the skill of Jesus in using a simple story 
to express the truth which he is seeking to make clear and 
forceful. He might have stated in abstract terms the princi- 

85 



[VIII-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

of the woman. He admits that her sins are many; on the 
other hand he intimates clearly that the gross sins of Simon 
are few. The contrast is not in the different degrees of 
forgiveness, but in the measure of honor and love that each 
has shown him. Note the fact that Jesus does not hesitate 
to make himself the object of human love. He asks, by 
reasonable implication, first place in the affections of his 
disciples. Are we right in claiming for Jesus Christ the 
first place in the affections of men today? 

Then Jesus proceeds to declare that the sins of the woman 
are forgiven. There is no apology for this statement on Jesus' 
part. He does not make it with any mental reservations. 
He does not say whether the heavenly Father forgives her 
sins or whether he forgives them. He simply affirms with 
absolute decision that the woman's sins are forgiven. Are 
we justified in looking to Jesus Christ by faith today for the 
forgiveness of sins? What aspects of the Master's character 
are revealed by this scene? 

The path of love is the way to forgiveness. We do not 
always approach the matter in this way. We think that the 
first step in the process of forgiveness is profound sorrow 
for sin and radical, thorough repentance. But Jesus under- 
stood how these both spring out of love. It is when we are 
sensitive to personal love for Christ that we hate the sins that 
separate us from him. The more we love the beautiful in 
music or in painting, the more we shall scorn the discordant 
and the ugly. Our quest of moral excellence is under the 
same law. When we are controlled by active love for virtue 
we hate vice. This principle is of the highest practical value 
in moral training and in the cultivation of our personal 
character. The surest way in which to help children to avoid 
evil is to inspire in them the love of the good. In our per- 
sonal struggle to overcome temptation it is futile to dwell 
constantly on the sin that is to be avoided ; we shall succeed 
best when we keep clearly before us the good that is to be 
sought. 

Eighth Week, Sixth Day: "Who, Then, Is This?" 

And they that sat at meat with him began to say within 
themselves, Who is this that even forgiveth sins? — Luke 
7: 49. 



JESUS AT THE HOUSE OF SIMON [VIII-7] 

The question that was asked at Simon's table has been put 
in unnumbered ways since then, and is still the great in- 
terrogation. "Who is this ?" There are many answers. The 
Church has replied through its great doctrines about the 
Person of Christ. The theologians have answered through 
their attempts to explain the mission of Jesus to the mind, 
heart, and conscience of humanity. But the best reply to the 
question comes from those who, like the blind man and the 
forgiven woman, like St. Augustine and Col. Hadley, repeat 
the same statement, each in his own tongue, "He is my 
Saviour and Master." 

We often ask, What bearing has my idea about Christ upon 
the way I live day by day? Many who are known as Chris- 
tians give the impression that there is no very close practical 
relationship between a creed concerning Christ and the attain- 
ment of a Christ-like character. But as a matter of fact 
the relation is essential and constantly constructive. What 
we truly believe about Jesus determines the way in which we 
accept his motives, act in his spirit and thereby finally grow 
to be like him. Of course, it is possible to hold a set of 
merely speculative opinions about Jesus and have life un- 
changed by the fact. But faith in Jesus Christ is something 
far deeper than superficial judgments about him. When we 
truly believe in Jesus as our divine Master, we begin to act 
habitually under the influence of the same motives as guided 
him in his earthly life. This is to be "united" with Christ, 
that is, to be identified in our ruling motives with Jesus. 
And this is what finally and naturally produces the Christian 
character. A Christian is not a magical or artificial product. 
He is the certain result of definite causes, working according 
to natural laws. The motives that actuated Jesus, placed at 
the center of our daily activity, produce the kind of a life 
that Jesus lived and create the Christian character. But we 
never enthrone these purposes in our conscious activity unless 
w r e believe that they were vital with Jesus. So it is our faith 
in him which leads us to union with him. 

Eighth Week, Seventh Day: "The Parting Bless- 
ing" 

And he said unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; 
go in peace. — Luke 7: 50. 

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[VIII-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

Jesus* benediction must have been spoken so clearly and 
plainly that all the guests could hear. He gave the sinful 
woman his blessing, and she went away from Simon's house 
forgiven and at peace. The guests had criticized Jesus for 
daring to forgive sins. He refused to be drawn into any 
discussion of the question. Note this aspect of his charac- 
ter ; he always kept the main issue to the front and declined 
to be diverted by any kind of a fruitless debate. So he de- 
clared now in the presence of the guests at Simon's table that 
the woman had been "saved by faith." 

This was apparently an effort on his part to fix the minds 
of all who heard him upon the importance of personal trust 
in him. "Faith" as Jesus used it here certainly does not 
mean a set of unproved opinions about Jesus ; if: is not 
credulity; it is a personal act by which this woman, in loving 
confidence, gave herself up to Christ and trusted him. She 
yielded her life to his mastery; she accepted his love as her 
law. Thus she was saved. The object of her trust was 
Jesus, her personal Master. 

The words "go in peace" were used as the common form 
of farewell. But surely as Jesus used them to the woman, 
they were filled with a new value and meaning. Christianity 
does precisely this; it takes such words as "love," "joy," 
and "peace" and makes them mean more than they ever did 
before. So the woman left the presence of the Master and 
the unfriendly stare of her critics with the songs of a new 
life singing in her heart. The days might be long and the 
burdens heavy; but they could all be met bravely now. Like 
the Woman of Samaria, she had found the radiant path into 
a new world. 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

The scene in Simon's house is full of delicate touches, 
which make it an attractive and fruitful subject for study. 
The play of feeling throughout the dinner hour is varied 
and deep. One feels as if he had watched the swift move- 
ment of a dramatic situation as he recalls the items in order. 

First, the character of Simon appears in sharp definition. 
He is a shrewd man, deeply interested in the events of the 
day and sure not to miss entertaining the lecturers from 
abroad and the grand opera stars. It redounded to his 

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JESUS AT THE HOUSE OF SIMON [VIII-c] 

reputation when rumor said that Simon the Pharisee had 
entertained more distinguished guests at his table than any 
other man in the city. It was worth all it cost. 

There was nothing personal in it. If the guests came to 
dinner and the public knew it, that was enough. So Simon 
forgot those acts of courtesy which are the expression of a 
noble and affectionate nature. He was satisfied, so long as 
he stole a march on a competitor for social prestige. This 
accounts for his rudeness to Jesus. 

But Jesus appreciated the situation in a moment. Perhaps 
none of the other guests had noticed the failure of Simon 
to add that little personal touch of attention and honor which 
seemed so slight and bulked so large. But the blaster felt it. 
He had all the accurate and immediate instincts of a gentle- 
man. The failure to treat him with the complete attention of 
refined courtesy was not simply an affront to his personal 
honor; it was an indication of a sordid soul in Simon. Lack- 
ing all the training of the court and high society, Jesus never 
fails in that instinctive courtesy which is the mark of a well- 
bred man. He proves that good manners and gentle courtesy 
are first of all determined by a loving heart and not externally 
by practice in the school of correct behavior. 

Perhaps this instinctive tendency to do the chivalrous act 
was one of the reasons that led Jesus to be loved by the 
down-and-outs. Surely there was something most extraor- 
dinary in him that led the real sinners to trust him. Who of 
all those outside the social pale must be approached with 
such delicacy as a woman like this? But Jesus had somehow 
made his influence felt in the case of this woman and she had 
given him her confidence. It was utterly unusual. Imagine 
her trusting one of the priests ! She would never have come 
within speaking range of one of these high officials in reli- 
gion. But in his close relations with the common people, 
Jesus had found her. It is an illuminating example of his 
approachableness. He was hedged about by no barriers. He 
did not wait for sinners to come to him ; he went to them. 
His very presence among the common folk was like the word 
"Come" written in letters of light and love. 

The social consternation and religious surprise at the act 
of the woman touches the scene with that delicious humor 
which is always present in the Bible. We can see the leaders 
of society whisper their amazement to their neighbors on 

91 



[VIII-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

the couches. The holy indignation of the Pharisees blazes 
as hotly as the amenities of the situation will permit. There 
is a buzzing all along the line as the proprieties receive a rude 
shock. It is all so contemptible and petty! And on the 
background of this artificial and ridiculous indignation, the 
woman pours out her gift unconcerned and Jesus receives 
her expression of love and gratitude without being disturbed. 
Love is always natural and spontaneous ; hypocrisy is gen- 
erally in good form and always artificial. 

Jesus was an adept at putting a lesson in the form of a 
story. All masters of the art of expressing truth in popular 
form have done this. Lincoln was one of the most proficient 
users of this art. A story will point a truth as a formal 
proposition cannot. The conclusion is always self-evident 
and the appeal is to common sense. The story that Jesus uses 
is commonplace in its simplicity. But it shot the lesson home 
to Simon's mind, and the shaft was barbed. A lecture on 
the relation of motives to good manners could not have done 
the business half so well. Jesus was a great Teacher. 

It is interesting to notice that Jesus said to the woman, 
"Go in peace." It was no place for her to remain. Jesus 
had no foolish notions regarding social custom. The woman 
was not a guest at Simon's banquet; she did not belong there 
for any length of time. Jesus recognized this fact, and was 
as thoughtful of Simon's rights as host as Simon had been 
careless of Jesus' privilege as guest. So the woman went 
away; but she went away forgiven. With our modern slight 
emphasis upon the tragedy of sin, we tend to hold forgiveness 
in slight regard. We do not talk about it much. It is 
seldom reckoned highly as a spiritual asset. But to this 
woman walking back to the street again, to the streets where 
her miserable existence had been spent so wretchedly before 
she met the Master, forgiveness meant a new world. There 
was light in the darkness now, peace in the troubled ways, 
and joy in the sordid contacts which now she had the power 
to spurn. She was one of the early witnesses to the power 
and beauty of the divine forgiveness through Christ. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

I. How can the individual Christian and the Church be 

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JESUS AT THE HOUSE OF SIMON [VIII-c] 

of redemptive service to the outcast life of the community? 
Is it true that Christians are not generally sensitive to their 
responsibility toward the vicious elements in the community? 

2. Is it the religious duty of every Christian to be a gentle- 
man? 

3. In what ways can we express publicly our love and 
gratitude to Christ? 

4. How can we realize the fact of forgiveness in our per- 
sonal spiritual life ? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

The Woman 

1. Finding and loving Christ in the midst of an evil life. 

2. Expressing her gratitude at any cost. 

3. Forgiven and restored to a new life. 

Simon 

1. Rich, socially ambitious. 

2. Careless in regard to those courtesies which only a 
sincere and loving heart can render. 

3. Rebuked and humbled at his own table by the truth 
brought home by a simple story. 

Jesus 

1. The perfect gentleman. 

2. Finding and knowing the worst people in the community 
as well as sitting with the most respectable at dinner. 

3. Teaching the profoundest lessons by means of the sim- 
plest stories. 

4. Going with unerring instinct to the heart of an act and 
discerning its motive. 

5. Forgiving sins. 



93 



CHAPTER IX 

Jesus at Home in Bethany 

DAILY READINGS 

Ninth Week, First Day: "The Better Part" 

Now as they went on their way, he entered into a 
certain village: and a certain woman named Martha re- 
ceived him into her house. And she had a sister called 
Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet, and heard his word. 
But Martha was cumbered about much serving; and she 
came up to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that 
my sister did leave me to serve alone? bid her therefore 
that she help me. But the Lord answered and said unto 
her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about 
many things: but one thing is needful: for Mary hath 
chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away 
from her. — Luke 10: 38-42. 

Martha appears to be the head of the household, perhaps 
because she is the elder of the sisters. She is in charge of 
the entertainment, and evidently feels that she must prepare 
the best that can be furnished for the comfort of the Guest. 
But she was distracted by her labor. An elaborate dinner 
could not be prepared without heat and hurry and worry. 
Martha was not wrong in her desire to express the family 
hospitality in the best possible form. Her mistake lay in such 
an over-doing of her duty that she missed the privilege of 
being with Jesus. In her case the good became the enemy of 
the best. 

On the other hand, Mary appears at first glance careless 
of her real domestic responsibilities. She does not seem to be 
doing her fair share. Instead of helping prepare an elaborate 
meal, she sits in the room with Jesus, eagerly listening to 
what he has to sa}^ She is furnishing her mind and soul 
with treasures that never can be taken away from her. Mary 

94 



JESUS AT HOME IN BETHANY [IX-2] 

was acting according to her sense of proportion and value 
in life; she was putting first things first. Whether the 
dinner should have two or six courses she considered to be 
a matter of small importance ; whether or not one caught the 
true vision of life from Christ seemed to her to be supremely 
important. This accounts for her action. 

Over against the distraction of Martha the calmness of 
Christ stands out more sharply defined. He does not re- 
prove Martha for her complaint against her sister ; he only 
tells her that one course is enough for dinner and that Mary 
has chosen, not the only but the better part. Jesus never let 
himself be torn asunder by conflicting duties or emotions. 
He kept his balance in every situation where less thoughtful 
men would have lost their self-control. 

May we not pray: Help us, our heavenly Father, to find the 
true values in our duties, so that we may live calmly and 
actively day by day, May we unite the hour of toil with the 
time of reflection, so that we may be happy and efficient in 
doing thy will. 

Ninth Week, Second Day: "The Dead Friend" 

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of 
the village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was 
that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and 
wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was 
sick. The sisters therefore sent unto him, saying, Lord, 
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. But when Jesus 
heard it, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but 
for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified 
thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and 
Lazarus. When therefore he heard that he was sick, 
he abode at that time two days in the place where he was. 
. . . Then Jesus therefore said unto them plainly, Lazarus 
is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not 
there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go 
unto him. — John 11: 1-6; 14, 15. 

Lazarus moves through the later part of the Master's 
life with an almost unnatural mystery and majesty. He is 
silent and significant in the story. The events connected with 
his life aroused great popular interest in Jesus ; they also 
crystallized the plots of Jesus' enemies to bring about his 
death. 

95 



[IX-3] MEETING THE MASTER 

Brief as the reference is, however, there is enough in the 
record to reveal the outlines of Lazarus' character. Jesus 
loved him. What description could be more concisely clear? 
Lazarus was a man whose character was such that he won the 
intimate and loyal personal affection of Jesus. The Master 
loved all sorts and conditions of men; but the word love as 
it is used here expresses, not pity for a sinner or compassion 
for an enemy, but friendship of the most genuine kind, based 
on mutual respect. So Lazarus was the kind of a man whom 
Jesus could honor with his personal love. Therefore he must 
have been clean and good and brave; he must have been 
noble and useful and happy. 

It was a distressing experience for Jesus to hear that 
Lazarus was dead. To lose a friend or one of our family 
circle tests us to the limits of faith and courage. No doc- 
trine of the divine Christ alters the fact that Jesus suffered 
intense sorrow when he knew that Lazarus was dead. He 
could not have displayed the deep feeling that he did unless 
he had really felt it; for Jesus never acted a part. Yet 
Jesus discerned the hidden purpose of good behind it all, and 
so he accepted the experience as containing a revelation and 
a blessing. This is one of the most noble and helpful expres- 
sions of human courage in the presence of profound sorrow 
that we know. 

In a letter from a home into which death had entered and 
a son had been taken, the writer spoke of the experience being 
met "in the grace of an accepted sorrow.'' There was no 
rebellion ; but there was a deep and terrible sense of loss. 
There was no despair ; but there was unspeakable loneliness. 
So grief comes into our everyday life and we must bear it 
as Jesus endured the news from Bethany. 

Ninth Week, Third Day: "The Resurrection and 
the Life" 

Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was com- 
ing, went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house. 
Martha therefore said unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst 
been here, my brother had not died. And even now I 
know that, whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will 
give thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise 
again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise 
again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto 

96 



JESUS AT HOME IN BETHANY [IX-3I 

her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth 
on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever 
liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou 
this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I have believed 
that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even he that 
cometh into the world. — John 11: 20-27. 

Martha hurries out to meet Jesus. As when she was en- 
tertaining him, so now when she is sunk in sorrow, she 
must be alert. She cannot sit down and think her sorrow 
through ; she must put her hand to specific tasks and work her 
trouble out. She does not do this in order that she may for- 
get, but as a welcome relief from the pressure of her sorrow 
and a means of expressing her suffering in action. 

Mary sits quietly at home thinking about the meaning of 
the experience through which she and her sister are passing. 
This does not mean necessarily that she is morbidly brood- 
ing on the death of her brother. Martha works out her 
problem ; Mary thinks hers out. 

Jesus meets the experience in still another way. He yields 
to the sorrow; but he is calm and sure in the presence of 
death. Then he dares to speak with an accent that never 
had been heard before in all the weary centuries during which 
men had wrestled with the problem of death. "I am the 
resurrection and the life" is a new note in the faint former 
music of human hope and yearning. Jesus faces the ultimate 
mystery and with divine audacity dares to declare that he 
himself is its solution. Thereby he makes his own character 
the central fact in the religion that bears his name. And he 
has been able to vindicate his claim in the life of mankind 
for almost twenty centuries. Millions of men and women 
have been assured of their immortal life because of the words 
and personal experience of Jesus. He has brought confidence 
and courage into countless houses of sorrow from the day 
he entered the mourning group at Bethany until now. 

Note that perfect tense in Martha's words, "I have believed." 
She says, "Yes, I have believed in the past ; and I really be- 
lieve now; but what I need just now is to have my faith so 
confirmed that it shall become a living force in my life." 
How truly this answer reflects our common feeling as we 
meet any searching experience! We have the warrant of 
our past faith ; it holds good ; but we need a certainty and 
strength that will help us over the hard places immediately 

97 



\y 



[IX-4] MEETING THE MASTER 

before us. And when we throw ourselves upon Christ in 
utmost confidence the needed strength comes. This is a con- 
firmed fact of experience that we cannot doubt. 

Ninth Week, Fourth Day: "Jesus Wept" 

Mary therefore, when she came where Jesus was, and 
saw him, fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, 
if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When 
Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weep- 
ing who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was 
troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him? They say 
unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. The Jews 
therefore said, Behold how he loved him! But some of 
them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of 
him that was blind, have caused that this man also should 
not die? — John n: 32-37. 

Compare the way in which Martha and Mary met Jesus. 
Both exclaimed, "O, if only you had been here, Lazarus would 
not have died." But Martha adds her faint hope that Jesus 
may yet do something to help them. It is her way. She is 
the energetic worker ; she cannot give up hope. 

On the other hand Mary has accepted the situation and 
nothing but her tears are left. No hope was left and no 
help was asked. She was resigned and chastened. 

"Jesus wept." It is the shortest verse in the Bible that 
records this fact. It is also one of the most precious. ' It 
lets us look into the heart of Christ. We discover his human 
sympathy; we see him in the finest expression of his per- 
sonality, suffering with others. 

This power to appreciate the sorrows of the world and 
to express genuine sympathy in natural w T ays is one of the 
most necessary qualities in Christian character. Effusiveness 
and sentimentality are, of course, undesirable. But a hard 
and cynical temper in the presence of human sorrows is 
inconsistent with the true Christian ideal of life. Jesus never 
let his feelings run away with his control of himself or the 
leash of his reason ; on the other hand he gave full expres- 
sion to his emotions and was not ashamed of his tears. 

Young men often yield to the tendency to steel themselves, 
when they meet the experiences that appeal to the emotions 
and call out expressions of grief; they think that it is manly 

98 



JESUS AT HOME IN BETHANY [IX-5] 

to be stoical when their eyes ought to be wet. But nothing 
is more truly manly than to appreciate and sympathise with 
the suffering of the world. When we do not react with 
personal sorrow to the staggering grief of a comrade we have 
failed to be his friend in the best sense of the word. The 
strongest men are the tenderest. Recall the fact that Jesus' 
triple command to Peter to serve him was based upon the 
apostle's affirmative reply to the question, "Lovest thou me?" 
Emotions get results as well as right ideas. 

Ninth Week, Fifth Day: "An Empty Tomb" 

So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his 
eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me. 
And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of 
the multitude that standeth around I said it, that they 
may believe that thou didst send me. And when he had 
thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come 
forth. He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot 
with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a 
napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him 
go. — John 11: 41-44' 

The scene is set forth with all apparent accuracy of de- 
tail. Lazarus is dead and has been buried. Death was there 
in all its stark reality. 

Jesus looked up toward the sky in prayer as he faced this 
situation. He spoke words of gratitude and humility. He 
was confident that his Father heard him ; he was sure that 
his mission to the world would be confirmed. The Master's 
habit and method of prayer are among the most prominent 
marks of his character. He moved through his earthly life 
with serene confidence and unfailing power because he was 
always sure of his union with God. Nothing interrupted this 
relationship. 

Then Jesus exerted his power. His prayer was the act 
preceding his power ; his power issued from his prayer. The 
souls of men are within the grasp of his might}* authority. 
The man of power is not the one who can command fleets 
and armies ; the true master is he who can exert control over 
the soul. The spirit of Lazarus heard and obeyed its Lord. 
It returned and vivified once more the body in which it had 
dwelt and which it had used to express itself before the 

99 



[IX-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

temporary separation which was called death. This is supreme 
authority, and Jesus displayed it before the tomb of Lazarus. 
The practical meaning of this tremendous event appears 
as we reflect upon the- power of Christ to call new energies 
into action in the field of our everyday living. When the 
higher powers of the soul lie inert and buried, Jesus appears 
as the Lord of the spirit and commands them to come forth 
into conscious life. We are not reducing the scene at Lazarus' 
grave to an allegory by this interpretation; we are simply 
finding enlarged meanings in the event. In every soul there 
are unrealized powers that may be described as dead. No 
man can face the example and personal challenge of Jesus 
as Master, without hearing the imperative word. The first 
demand that Christ makes upon the soul is to be instantly 
nobler, happier, and more useful. It is a veritable resurrection 
of spiritual activities and resources that follows from vital 
relationship with Christ. 

Ninth Week, Sixth Day: "Love and Treachery" 

Jesus therefore six days before the passover came to 
Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the 
dead. So they made him a supper there: and Martha 
served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at meat 
with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of 
pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, 
and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled 
with the odor of the ointment. 

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, that should 
betray him, saith, Why was not this ointment sold for 
three hundred shillings, and given to the poor? Now 
this he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because 
he was a thief, and having the bag took away what was 
put therein. Jesus therefore said, Suffer her to keep it 
against the day of my burying. For the poor ye have 
always with you; but me ye have not always. — John 12: 1-8. 

The feast which the fourth gospel describes is quite cer- 
tainly the one referred to in Matt. 26: 6-i3 and Mark 14: 
3-9. In the latter, however, Mary is not mentioned by 
name, while the host is definitely said to be Simon the Leper. 
He may have been a kinsman of the Bethany household. 
Mary's gift to the Master at this time was so similar to that 
of the woman at the feast of Simon the Pharisee, and the 

100 



JESUS AT HOME IN BETH AN Y [IX-;] 

names of the hosts on both occasions are so nearly identical 
that the inference is often drawn that we have two reports 
of the same event. But the similarities may be easily ac- 
counted for, and the differences are too marked to allow us 
to regard the two scenes as the same. 

It is the character of Mary that stands out clearly here. 
She brings her gift to Jesus as the expression of the devotion 
that had led her to listen to his message at Bethany and 
accept her sorrow without a murmur. The sincerity and 
beaut}' of her gift appear all the more clearly on the back- 
ground of the selfishness and hypocrisy of Judas. He had 
evidently been stealing from the common treasury of the 
disciples. His feigned regard for the poor was contemptible. 
All these facts make the love and devotion of Mary more 
significant. 

How closely love and treachery tread upon one another in 
our common life! Love thinks in the terms of others; 
treachery thinks in the terms of self and sin. Mary gave 
all she possessed at the impulse of love; Judas was thinking 
at the same time how he might steal a few more pennies. 

The time is coming when Christians are going to trade, to 
amuse themselves, to build and govern cities, to' rule their 
homes, and to enter into all international relations under the 
sway of such love as Jesus displaved in his glorious human 
life. 

Ninth Week, Seventh Day: "In Peril for the Mas- 
ter's Sake" 

The common people therefore of the Jews learned that 
he was there: and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, 
but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised 
from the dead. But the chief priests took counsel that 
they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by 
reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed 
on Jesus. — John 12: 9-1 1. 

Lazarus appears again with the indistinct character which 
forbids analysis, as we have noted before. He had met the 
supreme event of human life and had come back into his 
former physical relationships. The question arises, why did 
he not tell his friends what he had passed through? Tenny- 
son voices this wonder in "In Memoriam :" 

101 



[IX-7] MEETING THE MASTER 

"When Lazarus left his charnel-cave 
And home to Mary's house returned, 
Was this demanded — if he yearned 
To hear her weeping by his grave? 

Where wert thou, brother, those four days?' 

There lives no record of reply, 

Which telling what it is to die 
Had surely added praise to praise. 

From every house the neighbors met, 

The streets were filled with joyful sound, 
A solemn gladness even clowned 

The purple brows of Olivet. 

Behold a man raised up by Christ ! . 

The rest remaineth unrevealed; 

He told it not; or something sealed 
The lips of that Evangelist." 

But how could Lazarus have told? He had no language 
to express it, no common experience to which he could 
refer in making it clear to those to whom he would have 
spoken. Lazarus' silence does not mean that he, living again 
in a human body, had retained no consciousness of the in- 
terval that had passed when he was called dead. Indeed, the 
finest tribute to the reality of that experience is the fact that 
he did not seek to express it in human speech. Lazarus had 
met death face to face; he could not tell the story. His was 
the silence of a disciplined soul. 

But his experience brought him into physical peril. The 
officials who were plotting against Jesus dragged him into 
the range of their schemes. They had no animosity against 
him personally. Their work was official, and they would 
rather murder a man than see a tradition in peril. So it cost 
something in those days to be identified with Christ. Perhaps 
the Christian life of today would take on added strength if 
it involved more real sacrifice and suffering. The old days 
of the arena brought out the strength of the Christian faith. 
If the simple act of expressing a Christian purpose by signing 
a card or standing up in a meeting is the substance of what 
it means to be a Christian, strong souls will not be held long 
to it. That which costs nothing means little. 

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JESUS AT HOME IN BETHANY [IX-c] 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

We feel sensitive to the fact that Jesus never had a home of 
his own. This has often been cited as proof that there was 
something lacking in his human life that was essential to his 
perfect manhood. He never knew the responsibility that comes 
with being the head of a household; he had no wife or child. 

But the study of his life reveals all the characteristics of 
the husband and father. The wonderful insight and chivalry 
in his treatment of women show that he had all the qualities 
of the most devoted husband. The way in which the children 
ran to him indicates that he was the perfect master of the 
father's heart. And the way in which he took his place in 
the household at Bethany proves that he missed no essential 
experience of life because he never was married. On the 
other hand, his bachelor life was the only one which was 
consistent under the circumstances. And we must not miss 
that note of tragic loneliness which we catch when we hear 
him say on one occasion, "The Son of Man hath not where 
to lay his head." 

What a resting place the home in Bethany must have been 
to Jesus ! In spite of Martha's bustling activities, it must 
have been a place where one could retreat and find all the 
relief and comfort that love knows how to render to tired 
friends. And Jesus needed this ; for the pressure of his 
public relations surely brought him sometimes to the point 
where it was absolutely necessary that he should retreat to 
the shelter of love and quietness. 

"Ah, silver shrine, here will I take my rest 
After so many hours of toil and quest, 
A famish'd pilgrim — saved by miracle." 

There is a beautiful unity in the family group. Each charac- 
ter is strongly individualized ; but their love makes them a 
family together. Each contributes a necessary part to the 
variety in unity which is essential to a home. And the circle 
would not have been complete without the Friend. He came 
and took his place naturally. 

Martha has been censured too severely in our thoughtless 
judgment. She was not a mere bustling fretter. She was 
a successful home-maker, and her activity was the substance 
out of which the domestic happiness was largely wrought. As 

103 



[IX-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

we have noted, she got her proportions wrong. It is a com- 
mon fault. The tendency to over-do is as much a fault some- 
times as the habit of neglect. Especially is this true, if it 
involves the loss of something that is essential to the com- 
plete life of the group. 

Mary, on the other hand, has been held up as the shining 
example of the reflective mind, as if she did not also know 
how to cook and serve a good dinner. Mary was thoughtful; 
but there is no indication that she was either idle or in the 
way. It is sometimes said that the artisans must sweat in 
order that the poets and dreamers may eat. But this division 
is not warranted by anything that we know of the character 
of Mary. She put the most important thing in the first 
place ; but that is not the mark of a useless dreamer ; that is 
eminent and commendable practical wisdom. In fact, Mary 
seems to have been one of those persons who balance the 
vision and the task well in daily life. 

Lazarus is little understood. It could not be otherwise, 
since the narrative gives us almost no natural and concrete 
details. It is all left to the imagination to fill in. But he 
must have been a man of rare personality. It is impossible 
to think of him as talking the cheap gossip of the village 
or being petty in soul. He was silent in the possession of an 
unaccountable experience. 

Jesus is never represented in a more beautiful way than 
in this household, except in his contact with children, where 
his perfect humanity is revealed so delicately. It is an inspira- 
tion to picture him at Bethany. We see him first resting with 
his friends. The perplexing problems are laid aside and he 
talks with Mary about the lovely things in the world. There 
is no noise about it. Simplicity and genuineness make the 
atmosphere in which the restful hour goes by. The Master 
and his friends are together. What they talk about is not 
so important as the fact that they are with one another. That 
is enough. 

But we see Jesus also at Bethany in another guise. He is 
the towering Lord of death. Disease has done its worst 
to the physical body, and the spirit of Lazarus has not been 
able to use it any longer. Then Jesus speaks with the accent 
of divine power and calls the spirit to come back and use 
the body again. This is the explicit record. Jesus is the 
Master of all souls, living or dead. 

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JESUS AT HOME IN BETHAXY [IX-c] 

But the third picture is most beautiful. Jesus is the recipient 
of the love of the Bethany household. When Mary offered 
her sacrifice of affection she was expressing not only her own 
devotion, but also the love of the whole group. Jesus is the 
supreme and worthy object of personal love. This is the 
imperial glory of his character. He deserves the utmost 
devotion that loyal hearts know how to render. All the ave- 
nues of expression possible are not capable of indicating all 
the human love of which Jesus Christ is worthy. Our richest 
gifts fail to utter it all. Jesus merits all possible human 
devotion. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

i. How does the pressure of modern life disturb our sense 
of value and proportion? Xame some secondary interests 
which we tend to put first. 

2. How can we enjoy the practical benefits of the Christian 
assurance of immortality? Does it really make a difference 
in the way we do the day's work? 

3. How does experience confirm faith? 

4. In what ways are we ''stingy" in our gifts to God? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

Martha 

1. The efficient and successful head of the household. 

2. Making the wrong estimate of values and losing the best 
by her devotion to the merely good. 

3. Suffering intense grief and trusting Jesus for help even 
when the last hope seemed gone. 

4. Craving the confirmation of past faith by present experi- 
ence. 

Mary 

1. Eagerly listening to Jesus, not to the neglect of her duty, 
but in the right regard for the relative importance of duties. 

2. Resigned in her sorrow. 

3. Offering her richest gift to express her love for Jesus. 

Lazarus 

1. The man with the experience that cannot be put into 
words. 

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[IX-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

Jesus 

i. The human friend in the quiet home. 

2. The Lord of death. 

3. The sufferer in the sorrows of men. 

4. The object of the noblest human love. 



106 



CHAPTER X 

Jesus and the Hungry Crowd 

DAILY READINGS 

Tenth Week, First Day: "Seeking Rest" 

And the apostles gathered themselves together unto 
Jesus; and they told him all things, whatsoever they had 
done, and whatsoever they had taught. And he saith unto 
them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and 
rest a while. For there were many coming and going, 
and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they 
went away in the boat to a desert place apart. And the 
people saw them going, and many knew them, and they 
ran together there on foot from all the cities, and out- 
went them. — Mark 6: 30-33. 

It was a time of tension and exhaustion in the life of Jesus. 
He had received the news of the death of John the Baptist, 
whom he loved, and to whom he was \0y3l with all the strength 
of his heart. It was a distressing experience ; it made his 
remaining friends all the dearer ; he needed to be alone with 
them. 

Then the disciples had come back from their mission with 
eager questions and glowing reports. They needed Jesus to 
counsel with them about the meaning of their work. That 
involved their being together, where they could talk quietly. 

Meantime the crowd was pressing upon Jesus with their 
sickness and misery and problems. He could not find time 
even to eat. So he took a boat with his friends and started 
across the lake. He would find a place where he might be 
with them quietly. But the crowd watched the direction in 
which the boat went, ran along the paths that followed the 
shore, and, when Jesus and his disciples came to their chosen 

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[X-2] MEETING THE MASTER 

spot for conference, many people were already there and more 
coming. 

Did not Jesus have the right to be alone? Ought he not 
to have insisted upon that right and resented the intrusion of 
the crowd? It is often said that the social worker and the 
minister must have time to relax and "unbend the bow." 
On the other hand, Emerson said, "I do not see how any man 
can afford, for the sake of his nerves and his nap, to spare 
any action in which he can partake." And one of the greatest 
pastors in America once said, "The man who wants to see 
me is the man whom I want to see." How shall we balance 
our personal need of relief and rest with the claims of others 
upon our time and strength? 

Probably there were many individuals in the crowd who 
would have been respectful of Jesus' rights if they had been 
acting alone; but under the spell of the mob they did what 
they never would have done singly. In college life, how many 
times the influence of the mob spirit overwhelms personal 
standards and purposes, and one surrenders his individuality 
to the crowd ! How often in the country village the "gang" 
proves too strong for the individual, and he yields his in- 
dependence ! How shall we keep from doing in the crowd 
what we would scorn to do alone? 

Tenth Week, Second Day: "Sheep Without a 
Shepherd" 

And he came forth and saw a great multitude, and he 
had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not 
having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many 
things. — Mark 6: 34. 

Jesus had wanted so much to rest and to talk with his 
friends ! But there were the people. They were perplexed 
in their minds. Probably some of them had also brought such 
of their sick relatives as could make the journey. What should 
he do? Probably the need of the crowd was not vocal except 
for the mere fact of their presence. That was the strongest 
possible appeal to him. How did it test the Master's unselfish- 
ness? 

Jesus had seen shepherds among their flocks ever since 
he was a little boy. He knew how many times the true 

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JESUS AND THE HUNGRY CROWD [X-3] 

shepherd is forced to yield his personal preference and com- 
fort to the needs of the flock. And these people were in dire 
need. He knew that the priests and their services in syna- 
gogue and temple were not touching the problem. He knew 
that a real religious life could not be kept up on cold laws 
and dead traditions. Jesus had the "social mind" and this 
cost him many an hour of comfortable ease. 

In a statement of the purposes that have guided his life, 
Rev. George W. Truett, of Dallas, Texas, said briefly, "I have 
sought and found the shepherd heart." This explains his 
deep and wide influence. It was the very genius of the life 
of Jesus. 

Jesus also realized that his sympathy and love must take 
concrete form and express itself in deeds of actual beneficence. 
Many times we are sympathetic; but what do we do about it? 
We are sorry ; but we are not sorry "about five dollars worth." 
A practical situation calling for help stirs our pity; but it 
does not claim six hours of our time spent in personal service 
to meet it. 

The shepherd heart involves personal sacrifice. Delegated 
service will not meet the situation. Jesus did not send one 
of the disciples or even a committee to meet the people. He 
went himself. He put personality into the service of the peo- 
ple. Thus he was a true shepherd. Can a Christian meet the 
demands of the age merely by giving money to benevolent 
causes? 



Tenth Week, Third Day: "The Testing of Philip" 

Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a 
great multitude cometh unto him, saith unto Philip, 
Whence are we to buy bread, that these may eat? And 
this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he 
would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred shillings' 
worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one 
may take a little. — John 6: 5-7. 

As evening came on, the disciples saw the practical diffi- 
culties in the situation. They suggested to Jesus that the 
crowd be sent away. He would not accept that solution of 
the problem. "You give them something to eat," he said. 

Jesus put the problem squarely up to Philip. He had his 

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[X-4] MEETING THE MASTER 

own plan; but he wanted to make Philip do his own thinking 
and to develop his initiative. This was the Master's main pur- 
pose in his dealing with his disciples. He sought in every 
way to bring out their resourcefulness. 

Philip did not get far in the solution of his problem. All 
he was able to see was the difficulty ; he could show a number 
of reasons why the thing could not be done ; he had no 
suggestion for the positive doing of the work with which he 
was confronted. He could calculate impossibilities nicely. 

The fact with which Philip had not learned to reckon is 
the divine plus which God is able and willing to write, after 
we have done the best we can with the resources which we 
possess. This addition could not be made until he himself 
should have used all the wisdom and energy that he pos- 
sessed. Then God himself would "mingle in the game." 

When St. Theresa was being ridiculed by her comrades 
because she dared to undertake an expensive piece of work 
with only scanty resources, she replied : "With her three 
shillings Theresa can do nothing; but with God and her 
three shillings there is nothing that Theresa cannot do." 

The watchword of one of our great cities is, "I will." If 
this is not a mere idle boast, it is a noble expression of what 
should be the master mood of the Christian. It spells action 
and resolution ; it is the prophet and herald of success. Let 
us feel the stern and beautiful imperative of Jesus as we face 
the surging wants of the modern world and add God to the 
resources with which we may successfully meet the apparently 
overwhelming task. 

Tenth Week, Fourth Day: "The Lad With the 
Lunch" 

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, 
saith unto him, There is a lad here, who hath five barley 
loaves, and two fishes: but what are these among so many? 
— John 6: 8, 9. 

It is in the fourth gospel alone that we are told that the 
bread and fish belonged to a boy in the crowd. Someone 
has called him "the lad with the lunch." 

Compare Andrew's action here with that reported in John 
1 : 40-42, where he found his brother and brought him to 

no 



JESUS AXD THE HUNGRY CROWD [X-5] 

Christ. Evidently Andrew was one of those men who are 
constantly alert, hunting out new opportunities for service. 
He brought his report of available resources, plus an ex- 
pressed doubt as to the use to which they could be put in 
view of the problem. How often men tackle the difficulties 
in a situation in the same way ! But it is better to survey the 
field and end with a report plus a doubt than to give up at 
the outset and do nothing at all. 

In our everyday life we all tend to disparage the slight 
resources which we possess and can give to Christ. But as 
a matter of fact, the small things into which love and self- 
sacrifice have been put become the great means of realizing 
Christ's purpose for the world. So the women kept their 
flasks of precious perfume and the boy saved his bread and 
fish until the time should come when they could be most 
useful. How much the little things count when they have been 
consecrated to great ends ! 

Tenth Week, Fifth Day: "Organization" 

And he commanded them that all should sit down by 
companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in 
ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. — Mark 6: 39, 40. 

We generally think of Jesus as a teacher and idealist. He 
goes among the villages.- telling men the good news about 
God the Father ; he stands in close and tender relations with 
those who suffer and are glad. But here we see him in actual 
charge of a practical problem where several thousand men 
and women are to be handled ; the children are there also, 
complicating the task. And he instantly displays the skill of 
a tactician. He goes at the business with the finest executive 
control. 

First he mobilizes the entire situation. The crowd is divided 
into companies of fifties and hundreds ; they are arranged by 
divisions on the green grass. Order comes out of chaos, and 
it is possible to use resources to the utmost advantage. What 
new aspects of the character of Jesus are revealed by this 
glimpse of his practical skill ? 

Imagine the picture that must have been presented by the 
great crowd as the shadows lengthened at the close of the 
da>-. The background for the scene was the hills and the 

ill 



[X-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

green grass. The soft colors of the clothing worn by the 
people, with occasional dashes of color, made the whole land- 
scape look like a great garden of flowers, arranged in beds 
and blended softly in the waning light. 

But Jesus did not make his organization the end of his 
action. The reason why Jesus organized the crowd was that 
the disciples might do their work more quickly and efficiently. 
He set them immediately at the practical work of using his 
plan. He planned the work and worked the plan. If Jesus 
had seated the people by fifties and hundreds and then had 
left them just as hungry as they were before he arranged 
them, it would have been so much wasted energy. He in- 
stantly put personality into his organization. 

He solved the problem of vitalizing his scheme of work. 
This is the secret of efficiency. It is like the relation between 
the body and the spirit. The human body is the most perfect 
organism which we know. But it must be ceaselessly informed 
and used by the living soul. As Bishop Brent has said : "Man 
is not body alone: body without soul is a corpse. Neither 
is he soul alone : soul without body is ghost. Man is body 
and soul." This is the secret of successful Christian work, 
to keep the right relation between spirit and method, between 
organization and personality. 

Tenth Week, Sixth Day: "Consecration" 

And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and look- 
ing up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake; and gave 
to the disciples to set before the multitude. — Luke 9: 16. 

Jesus is now ready to use the means at his disposal for 
the purpose of meeting the immediate need of the hour. Be- 
fore he does anything in a practical way, however, he "asks 
the blessing. ,, It is the simple ceremony of gratitude and 
consecration that has been kept up in the Christian practice 
of "grace before meat." Jesus had an inborn reverence for 
the Creator and Giver of good. Compare his similar act at 
the last supper with the disciples in Jerusalem. 

This scene has inspired one of our finest hymns, beginning, 

"Break Thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me 
As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea." 
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JESUS AND THE HUNGRY CROWD [X-7] 

It is an example of the true way in which religious forms 
ought to be used. There is no little impatience with the 
ceremonial side of religion on the part of many who earnestly 
seek to preserve the spirit of faith and practice. In one way 
it is a healthy protest against the inevitable tendency to allow 
the form to steal into the place of the spirit. But it may be 
carried too far. Formal expression of spiritual life is always 
necessary. Take, for example, the so-called "Lord's Prayer/' 
Jesus knew that his disciples needed to be taught how to pray 
*as well as inspired to the temper of prayer. So he gave them 
this form of words. It can be used to the greatest profit; or 
it can become only an empty form of words, according to the 
way in which we use it. We need have no fear of hypocrisy 
if we will use religious forms with the sincerity and natural- 
ness with which Jesus employed them. 

Every power and act in the life of Jesus was consecrated 
to the Father. Perhaps there have been so many "Consecra- 
tion Meetings" and "Reconsecrations" that earnest and vital 
persons have grown impatient with the whole subject. But 
this protest rests upon the abuse of the truth and not on its 
use in accord with the practice of Jesus. Wordsworth reached 
a great moment in his life when he felt that he was truly a 
"dedicated spirit." We cannot pack our consecration into 
one or more public expressions of devotion ; it must accom- 
pany all our work and ennoble all our activity. It must find 
expression in genuine acts of devotion ; but it must be the 
underlying support of our life as a whole. 

Tenth Week, Seventh Day: "Conservation" 

And when they were filled, he saith unto his disciples, 
Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that 
nothing be lost. So they gathered them up, and filled 
twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley 
loaves, which remained over unto them that had eaten. 
When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, 
they said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into 
the world. — John 6: 12-14. 

As we observe how God's gifts are used by men we are 
struck by two facts : the divine plenty and human waste. 
God is so bountiful and man is so extravagant ! But Jesus 
set about gathering all the fragments of the food that no 

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[X-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

waste might result. It is a question which is the more won- 
derful, the Master's creative power or his wise economy. 

The influence of this attention to details must have been 
deep on the minds of the disciples. They saw how careful 
Jesus was even with broken biscuits and fragments of fish. 
It was a life lesson to them in a practical way. Later they, 
too, would find that they possessed resources of which they 
were not aware before their Master's death. They might 
be tempted to use them recklessly. But the example of the 
baskets of fragments would come back to their minds and save 
them from the sin of waste. 

The word "Conservation" is a new and significant term in 
our modern religious vocabulary. It means the gathering up 
of the spiritual results of a great experience in such a way 
that nothing, will be lost. Churches sometimes pass through 
a period of revival. An evangelist stirs the community with 
his message. Decisions for the Christian life are made in 
considerable numbers. Then the meetings close and the evan- 
gelist goes away. Now comes the great problem of conserva- 
tion on the part of the churches. It is immensely harder to 
save and construct the immediate results of a "revival" into 
permanent forces for welfare in the community than it is to 
organize and carry through the original movement. 

The same fact may be urged concerning conventions of 
young people and student conferences, like those at Northfield, 
Lake Geneva, and Estes Park. Unless the men and women 
who go to these places of inspiration come back to their 
communities and colleges with changed lives, the value of the 
meeting is open to serious question. The task of conservation 
is to add the practical to the ideal, to follow up vision with 
service, to give concrete expression in duties to the inspira- 
tions that have come in the conference hall. The peril in 
every deeper impulse of the spirit is that it will not yoke itself 
up quickly with duties and deeds that will express it. 



COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

Moving through the crowd which had broken in upon the 
privacy of Jesus was a boy. There is no record of his name 
and no description of his appearance. He had with him a 
basket or package containing food. Perhaps it had been given 

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JESUS AXD THE HUNGRY CROWD [X-c] 

him to carry; perhaps it was his own. And the lad and his 
lunch furnished the point at which Jesus could begin his work 
for the people. It is another of those unknown, quiet figures 
that appear in the story of the Master's life, make their con- 
tribution to the movement of the whole and then disappear 
silently into the background. But they are necessary to the 
unity and movement of the Master's life and work. 

The most suggestive item in the study of the week is the 
way in which Philip, Andrew, and Jesus attack the definite 
problem of finding sufficient food for the people. Philip sees 
the problem, but he cannot make the least suggestion as to the 
way in which to meet it. Andrew sees the problem, finds at 
least something with which to make a beginning, and then 
raises the question as to whether or not the thing can be done. 
Jesus sees the problem, takes the resources at hand, proceeds 
to organize the distribution of the food in the best way, then 
adds the resources of God to that which he has already, and 
behold! the people are fed. This is typical of the way in 
which different people set to work at a hard task. 

First come those who see what needs to be done ; but they 
have no sense of resources. All they can do is to define the 
problem and tell fort}' reasons why it cannot be solved. These 
are the hard-headed people who judge everything by the 
material conditions in the situation. There were no restau- 
rants in the bare country where the crowd had found Jesus. 
"Just use your own eyes." say the practical Philip people, 
"and you will see that these men must go without their sup- 
per." And according to the facts in the case, they are right. 
The work is too great for the resources at hand. One of 
the easiest things in the world to do is to show how anything 
is impossible. 

Then the Andrew people come along. They begin at once 
to hunt up resources. If there is no restaurant, there may by 
chance be a lad there with his lunch. He forms a point of 
contact ; his lunch basket makes a beginning. And sometimes 
the hardest part of the task is just getting started. The 
trouble with Andrew was that he did not go far enough in 
his program. He was as helpless as Philip when it came to 
making a real beginning. His doubt stalled everything at 
the outset. He threw cold water on the struggling spark of 
courage and it died out in an instant. 

Then comes Jesus. See how he handles himself and the 

it; 



[X-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

situation ! One look he takes at the rolls and the fishes ; one 
look at the crowd; then a survey of the men on whom he 
could depend, and his plan is formed. He whips the con- 
fused and hungry crowd into distinct order and hope. They 
take courage the moment they see him do something. They 
might have heard Andrew's words ; but ail he said was, "It 
can't be done." But Jesus took hold and they were finding 
places in ordered groups before they could stop to think 
about the difficulties in providing their supper. They could 
see that something was taking place, however; it was organi- 
zation, dedication, and economy working out a big dinner 
scheme before their very eyes. The boy had the lunch ; God 
had the resources of the universe; and Jesus had the power 
to form them into a partnership to feed a great crowd of 
hungry and tired people. The secret of success was utter 
dependence upon God. 

Of course it never could have taken place unless the vision 
and faith of Jesus had been available for leadership. The 
sympathy of Christ for a lot of hungry men was the secret 
of success. It is only such tenderness and sympathy that 
dares to challenge what men call the impossible and simply 
compel it to yield. Philip lacked vision and Andrew lacked 
faith ; Jesus had no lack of either. And so the work was done. 
Love lay at the basis of it. And there is no other force so 
strong as love for getting hard things done in life. Perhaps 
it will not multiply loaves of bread in the hands of any one 
of us in this modern age ; but it will do something that is as 
great. It will take situations that seem to be so difficult that 
there is no possibility of wrenching success out of them, and 
it will make them yield. Jesus loved this hungry crowd ; this 
is the supreme truth from which his faith and power came. 
There were children among them who were ready to cry for 
their supper. Jesus could not sit idly by and hear little boys 
and girls beg for bread. The great need of the world for 
gifts of every kind that will satisfy its mind and heart was 
present in the throng of people before Jesus. Nothing else 
so called out his boundless pity and his practical help as the 
thought and sight of human need. This interprets the match- 
less humanity of Christ; he was responsive to the call of 
every human want. Love made him the servant and soldier 
of all good causes and yearning souls ; love won his victories 
and made him the world's Saviour. 

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JESUS AND THE HUNGRY CROWD [X-c] 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

1. How can we cultivate practical sympathy? 

2. Discuss the cultivation of initiative in Christian service. 
How far can personal responsibility be delegated or discharged 
by the gift of money or moral support? 

3. What are the chief causes of irreverence in present 
day American life? How does it manifest itself? 



OUTLINE SKETCHES 

The Crowd 

1. Absorbed in its own questions and needs; forgetting the 
personal rights of Jesus. 

2. Without resources, hungry and dependent, a challenge 
and opportunity to Jesus and his disciples. 

3. Receiving the Master's benefits, but probably in general 
never experiencing more than the "loaves and fishes." 

Philip 

1. Facing a task with merely the inventory of the items. 

Andrew 

1. Developing available resources, but not daring to begin the 
huge task with them. 

The Lad 

1. Bearing his part quietly, probably ignorant of the mean- 
ing of his contribution. A case of "unconscious influence." 

The Master 

1. Suffering sorrow, craving friendship, needing rest. 

2. Socially conscious, the great shepherd heart of history, 
losing his own personal needs in love for the crowd. 

3. Developing the initiative and responsibility of the dis- 
ciples ; not doing for them what they ought to do for them- 
selves. 

4. A practical organizer. 

5. Reverent and grateful to his heavenly Father as he uses 
the common things of life. 

6. Conserving the results of action. 

117 



CHAPTER XI 

Jesus and Pilate 

DAILY READINGS 

Eleventh Week, First Day: "Condemned Before 
Trial" 

They lead Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Prae- 
torium: and it was early; and they themselves entered not 
into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but 
might eat the passover. Pilate therefore went out unto 
them, and saith, What accusation bring ye against this 
man? They answered and said unto him, If this man 
were not an evil-doer, we should not have delivered him 
up unto thee. Pilate therefore said unto them, Take him 
yourselves, and judge him according to your law. The 
Jews said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man 
to death: that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which 
he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should 
die. — John 18: 28-32. 

It is not an easy task to arrange every detail in the life of 
Jesus so that the accounts shall harmonize perfectly. In 
general, however, there is no lack of agreement in the order 
of the main facts. Pilate was the Roman governor (pro- 
curator) in Jerusalem. He was a typical Roman soldier, 
coarse and cruel, ambitious only to keep his official standing 
in Rome, hating the Jews and their bothersome religious 
quarrels, which he did not in the least try to understand. So 
when the Pharisees disturbed him early in the morning with a 
legal case and he found that one of their religious customs 
which seemed to him stupid would not let them come into his 
courtroom, he went out to talk to them in no pleasant temper. 
They could not offer him a specific charge, saying only that he 
must know that they would not have brought Jesus to him 
unless he were an evil-doer. Pilate must have spoken in an 

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JESUS AND PILATE [XI-2] 

irritated tone when he told them to take Jesus and judge him 
according to their own law. We can almost feel the con- 
tempt in his voice. He is unwilling to be bothered with their 
miserable questions of custom and ceremony. 

The Pharisees are examples of that strange condition that 
often arises in religious life when true values are hopelessly 
confused. Here were men so externally religious that under 
no conditions would the}' involve themselves in ceremonial 
defilement by coming into the presence of the Roman court ; 
and yet at the same moment they had murder in their hearts. 
To send Jesus to the cross seemed to them to be doing the 
will of God. To touch something that had been declared 
to be unclean by a purely external standard seemed to them 
the unpardonable sin. 

This is the mischief of formalism and bigotry in religion. 
It is easy at this safe distance to censure the Pharisees, but 
we are never free from the danger of bigotry and external- 
ism in our everyday life. They kept their holiness intact while 
they murdered an innocent man. . Their standard was wrong. 
We have a better one. Christ has given us a scale of values 
and a standard for life that will keep us from the sin of 
these men in Pilate's anteroom. 

Eleventh Week, Second Day: "What is Truth?" 

Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, and 
called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the 
Jews? Jesus answered, Sayest thou this of thyself, or did 
others tell it thee concerning me? Pilate answered, 
Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests 
delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus an- 
swered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom 
were of this world, then would my servants light, that I 
should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my king- 
dom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art 
thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I 
am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end 
am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto 
the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 
Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? — John 18: 33-38. 

The representative of the greatest political power of history 
stands face to face with the greatest spiritual Master of time. 
One is backed by Rome ; the other is alone, forsaken by even 

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[XI-3] MEETING THE MASTER 

his little group of humble followers. No more dramatic 
contrast is possible. Pilate thinks in terms of the Roman 
Empire ; Jesus thinks in terms of love, brotherhood, and the 
spiritual Kingdom of God. That their vocabulary should 
differ, that the interview should be indefinite and unsatis- 
factory, was inevitable under the circumstances. See Luke 
23 : 2 for the specific charge that Jesus had called himself 
"Christ a King." Do not miss the biting scorn in the ques- 
tion, "Am I a Jew ?" 

Pilate was interested in the matter of the King of the Jews. 
The word scented of treason and his nose was keen on such 
a trail. He was on the ground to take care of such matters. 
So he put the direct question to Jesus with genuine eagerness. 

According to the synoptic gospels, the reply of Jesus was 
"Thou sayest," which means explicitly and positively, Yes. 
The fourth gospel represents Jesus as asking Pilate whether 
he asked the question on his own initiative or whether some 
one put him up to it. Naturally this nettled Pilate, and he 
demanded of Jesus what he^ad done. Jesus' reply mystified 
him. This fearless rabbi began to talk about a Kingdom which 
is not drawn from this world or defended by force. What 
do you understand Jesus to mean by this? Is there such a 
Kingdom here on earth now? How does it appear? Who 
compose it? Are you a member of it? How are its members 
recruited? 

Of course the Roman soldier could not understand; so he 
came back again with his question, "But are you a King?" 
He could think only in the terms of Rome, because he had 
served Rome so long and well. Jesus replies once more in 
the vocabulary of the spirit. He is a King, indeed, but it is 
a kingdom of truth in which he reigns. WTiat do you under- 
stand to be the truth of which Jesus is talking here? And 
what is it for a person now to be of the truth? How does 
hearing the voice of Jesus depend upon being of the truth? 
The answer to these questions will help solve Pilate's prob- 
lem expressed in his words, "What is truth?" 

Eleventh Week, Third Day: "Dodging Responsi- 
bilities" 

And Pilate said unto the chief priests and the multi- 
tudes, I find no fault in this man. But they were the more 

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JESUS AND PLATE [XI-3] 

urgent, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching through- 
out all Judea, and beginning from Galilee even unto this 
place. But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the 
man were a Galilaean. And when he knew he was of 
Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him unto Herod, who him- 
self also was at Jerusalem in these days. Now when Herod 
saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was of a long 
time desirous to see him, because he had heard concerning 
him; and he hoped to see some miracle done by him. And 
he questioned him in many words; but he answered him 
nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes stood, 
vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers 
set him at nought, and mocked him, and arraying him in 
gorgeous apparel sent him back to Pilate. And Herod 
and Pilate became friends with each other that very day: 
for before they were at enmity between themselves. — 
Luke 23: 4-12. 

So far Pilate has not been able to avoid what is becoming 
to him an increasing dilemma. If Jesus had stood in the way 
of his personal ambition, or if the Master had committed 
himself to a treasonable act, no doubt Pilate would have 
ordered him to immediate death. But nothing of the sort 
had been proven. Here was a gentle idealist who talked about 
a kingdom of truth which was to be maintained without force. 

There was a genuine sense of justice in Pilate, even if he 
had debauched it to selfishness for so long. He must either 
release Jesus and anger the Jews, or condemn a man who was 
guiltless. Pilate's repeated attempts to pronounce Jesus in- 
nocent served only to increase the determination of the peo- 
ple. They now gave Pilate a hint which seemed to offer relief. 
They mentioned Galilee; that was under Herod's jurisdiction: 
here was a way out with the troublesome prisoner. Herod 
was in Jerusalem ; Jesus must be sent to Herod. So the 
prisoner was hurried away to the King's quarters. 

Picture to yourself the silent dignity of Jesus before Herod. 
The latter was curious to see the Master. He wanted to wit- 
ness a miracle most of all. Jesus would not talk. There was 
no response to the royal challenge that he perform a miracle. 
Was this action of Jesus in the presence of Herod the best 
method that Jesus could have pursued? Now Jesus is treated 
cruelly by the soldiers and then sent back to Pilate. A com- 
mon object of attack makes Pilate and Herod friends again. 
It is an old and familiar experience. 



[XI-4] MEETING THE MASTER 

Among all the temptations that assail us in our everyday 
life, this tendency to dodge the issue and shift responsibility 
is one of the most perilous. There can be no strong charac- 
ter that is not tested and developed by the bearing of the 
burden of personal responsibility. To try to throw it off 
upon the shoulders of someone else is not only to be a coward, 
but also to miss one of the most vital means of- growth. 
The only possible way in which we can get ready for the 
bearing of larger responsibilities is to assume courageously 
the lesser trusts by which we are being prepared. We are 
suffering today from the delegation of personal responsibility. 
We must bring ourselves sharply up to duty and action. We 
cannot shift the load and be true to Christ. 

Eleventh Week, Fourth Day: "Pilate's Lost Op- 
portunity" 

And Pilate called together the chief priests and the 
rulers and the people, and said unto them, Ye brought 
unto me this man, as one that perverteth the people: 
and behold, I, having examined him before you, found 
no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye 
accuse him: no, nor yet Herod: for he sent him back unto 
us; and behold, nothing worthy of death hath been done 
by him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him. 
But they cried out all together, saying, Away with this 
man, and release unto us Barabbas: — one who for a certain 
insurrection made in the city, and for murder, was cast 
into prison. And Pilate spake unto them again, desiring 
to release Jesus; they shouted, saying, Crucify, crucify 
him. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what 
evil hath this man done? I have found no cause of 
death in him: I will therefore chastise him and release him. 
— Luke 23: 13-22. 

The outstanding fact in the day's lesson is the pitiful weak- 
ness of Pilate in failing to perform the firm, just act which 
the situation demanded. His will runs back and forth in a 
bewildered way between his sense of justice and his cringing 
fear of a popular demand. Three times he is represented as 
telling the mob and its leaders that Jesus had done nothing 
worthy of death. The first time he speaks with considerable 
conviction and somewhat at length. The second effort is not 

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JESUS AND PILATE [XI-5] 

reported in detail. The third statement is the weakest of the 
three, beginning with a feeble question. 

The most dramatic contrast in the scene is the point at 
which Barabbas is substituted for Jesus. A confessed rebel 
and murderer is put into the place of the gentlest soul that 
ever lived. One whose life was a ceaseless benediction and 
whose whole character was marked by loyalty and truth was 
compelled to suffer the penalty inflicted justly upon the worst 
of criminals. How the contemptible weakness of Pilate ap- 
pears black and brutal against the quiet loyalty and un- 
changed resolution of Jesus ! 

The Roman knew that there was not the least ground for 
the condemnation of Jesus. But he did not have the courage 
and resolution to stand up for the truth. . Among the influ- 
ences that acted upon him was his dislike for unpleasant situa- 
tions. He knew that if he thwarted the will of the religious 
leaders of the Jews in this case, he would have trouble with 
them later. They might somehow twist the case into a serious 
charge against him at Rome. Pilate was too anxious about 
his personal tenure of office to let anything like this happen 
if he could prevent it. His seat in the saddle was unstable 
at best and he did not intend to be unhorsed if political pre- 
cautions could save him. 

We often desire to dodge the disagreeable; we want to 
escape personal discomfort. Thus we fail to stand up squarely 
to a duty and we shirk a trust. Recognize the facts, define 
the responsibility, and then by God's help and with steadfast 
devotion openly champion the cause that is just and the Christ 
who is true. 

Eleventh Week, Fifth Day: "Washing Away 
Guilt" 

So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather 
that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed 
his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of 
the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it. And all 
the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on 
our children. — Matt. 27: 24, 25. 

Two phases of the character of Pilate appear in this 
dramatic scene : He is the victim of cringing fear in the 
presence of a threatening situation, and he is unable to press 

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[XI-5] MEETING THE MASTER 

a just decision through to the end. He is a coward because 
he lacks persistency. 

No great leadership is possible unless one is ready to face 
opposition and meet the howl of the mob with unshaken 
courage. William Lloyd Garrison might be hauled through 
the streets of Boston, but he could not be compelled to cease 
writing and talking against slavery. In the end he was 
heard because he defied the popular tumult. 

Christian leadership calls also for that sort of dogged deter- 
mination that will not yield even when the last resource seems 
to be exhausted. When the president of a great corporation 
was shown a new project, he was told at the end of the con- 
ference that the only trouble with it was that it was prac- 
tically impossible of accomplishment. "O," he said, "is that 
all? Then let's go ahead and do it/' There is hardly a form 
of Christian enterprise today that is not facing what looks 
like the impossible. But that is the situation in which Jesus 
is found as he faces Pilate. The only way in which to deal 
with the impossible is calmly and courageously to take hold 
of it and carry it through. 

The piece of dramatic stage-play by which Pilate attempts 
to clear himself from responsibility before the people is both 
contemptible and pathetic. He was stooping to the same kind 
of a ceremonial righteousness as that in which the Pharisees 
indulged. It deceived nobody. Certainly it could have brought 
little satisfaction to his own conscience. He knew that he had 
been a coward. He must live with himself, and no amount 
of water could wash out the memory of the moments that 
he had spent with Jesus. We may try in every way to set 
ourselves right socially ; but the inner peace that is lost through 
sin cannot be restored. Sometimes we use prevailing social 
customs as the water by which we would cleanse our reputa- 
tion. "Everyone does it; why shouldn't I?" In the end, 
however, the world places moral responsibility about where it 
belongs, and men must bear the burden of their misdeeds. 
"Chickens come home to roost." The clear consciousness of 
the fact that there is no method of stage performance that 
will take away the personal responsibility for our actions 
steadies us as we reflect upon the meaning of our deeds. If 
Pilate could have been clear on this point, it might have helped 
him to be just to Christ. As it was, his public performance 
came too late. 

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JESUS AND PLATE [XI-6] 



Eleventh Week, Sixth Day: "'Behold, the Man'" 

And Pilate went out again, and saith unto them, Behold, 
I bring him out to you, that ye may know that I find no 
crime in him. Jesus therefore came out, wearing the 
crown of thorns and the purple garment. And Pilate saith 
unto them, Behold, the man! When therefore the chief 
priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, 
Crucify him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Take 
him yourselves, and crucify him: for I find no crime in 
him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by that 
law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of 
God. When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the 
more afraid; and he entered into the Praetorium again, and 
saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him 
no answer. Pilate therefore saith unto him, Speakest thou 
not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to 
release thee, and have power to crucify thee? Jesus 
answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, 
except it were given thee from above: therefore he that 
delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.^ Upon this Pilate 
sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If 
thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend: every 
one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 
When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought 
Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment-seat at a place 
called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it 
was the preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth 
hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King! 
They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him, 
crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your 
King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but 
Caesar. Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be 
crucified. — John 19: 4-16. 

In today's passage we have one of the most striking con- 
trasts which we have seen between Pilate and Jesus. Note 
the physical comparison. Jesus is worn with physical pain 
and mental anguish; he is crowned with thorns, robed in the 
mock garments of royalty, bruised by many blows. Pilate 
is in physical health, representing the power of Rome. But 
which is the real man? When Pilate says, "I find him guilt- 
less ; but take him and crucify him yourselves/' note how he 
betrays the weakness of his character. If Jesus was innocent 
he ought to have been released; if he was guilty he ought to 

125 



[XI-7] MEETING THE MASTER 

have been punished. But Pilate tried to stand in the com- 
promising position; that is, to pronounce Jesus guiltless and 
yet do nothing positive to defend and save him. It is im- 
possible permanently to occupy a compromise position. 

Note the way in which Pilate descends to threats. But 
when the suggestion is given him that his favorable treat- 
ment of Christ may be construed as a charge of treason at 
Rome, he betrays his essential cowardice in a moment. All 
his fears rise up and scream at him. 

It seems to us that it ought to have been enough for the 
mob to have looked at Jesus to be convinced of his nobility 
and innocence. The friend of the sick and poor, who had 
never done anything but good to a living soul, stood in the 
presence of the mob and they were told to look upon him, a 
man indeed, even in his misery. Could there be a better 
description of Jesus than that which is contained in the 
simple term, the Man? In all that is written about Jesus as 
Son of God we must not lose our view of him as our Brother, 
the Man. The priests thought it was a crime worthy of death 
that Jesus should have dared to claim to be the Son of God. 
Centuries of human love and appreciation have confirmed his 
right to both names, the divine and the human. 

Eleventh Week, Seventh Day: "Decided, at Last" 

And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. 
And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE 
KING OF THE JEWS. This title therefore read many 
of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was 
nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in 
Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews there- 
fore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; 
but, that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate an- 
swered, What I have written I have written.— John 19: 
19-22. 

Whether he intended it so or not, certainly the title which 
Pilate caused to be placed on the cross was one that stung 
the Pharisees into fury. Probably we are right in thinking 
that Pilate deliberately intended that it should be so. In this 
case it reveals the deliberate maliciousness of his mind. Not 
only did he choose the words, but he saw to it that they were 
written in all the current languages of the people. 

126 



JESUS AND PILATE [XI-c] 

One can almost see his eyes snap as he receives the delega- 
tion of the angry Jews. His shot has found its mark. The 
scorn that he wrote into the title for the cross is blistering 
the men whom he hated. He has been successful in "getting 
even." 

And now at length he is decided. Having veered to every 
possible wind that could blow, he finally is positive and 
determined. But it is too late. The time for him to have 
exercised decision of character was when Jesus was before 
him and justice was hanging in the balance. Pilate did not 
decide upon anything until his own pride and selfish mean- 
ness were involved. Then he knew how to be arbitrary to 
the point of brutal firmness. The words almost crack with 
intensity : "What I have written stands ; don't argue." 

Thus we see Pilate representing two traits of character 
that are often encountered in daily life, namely, revengeful- 
ness and stubbornness in cases where personal interests are 
involved. The tendency to retaliate is almost instinctive and 
we yield to it, even when we know how futile and unworthy 
it is. Jesus set the old law of retaliation aside as he gave 
us the rule for the better way. We simply have not dared 
as yet to take Jesus at his word and to venture upon the life 
of love which he promised wbutd be the life of victory. 

The second difficulty in our everyday Christian life that 
the incident suggests is our lack of decisive action at the 
time when it is most necessary. So often it is only after the 
critical moment and when our personal interests are involved 
that we reach our decision concerning Christ. What is needed 
in every community is the open championship of the Master's 
cause at the time when it is in a crisis. When the forces of 
evil are in command, when the honor of Christ is being at- 
tacked, these are the times when stout defenders and positive 
champions are needed. At such decisive moments are we 
found true to Christ and his truth? 



COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

The great contrast in this week's study is between a wholly 
material and a consistently spiritual view of the world. Pilate 
and Jesus each has his philosophy of life. It enters into 
every thought and act; it gives color to all the relations that 

127 



[XI-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

they bear to the world of men and things. There is no better 
example of the way in which a person's ruling ideas really 
rule him than we have in these scenes. 

Pilate is the supreme example of the calculating, politic, 
and completely "worldly" point of view. That is, no action 
is regarded from any other point of view than the influence 
which it will have upon some material or physical interest. 
His yardstick, applied to every motive and deed, is, "What 
will this do to my standing with the Emperor?" If an idea 
comes before him he puts it on the witness stand with this 
question, and it stands or falls according to its relation to his 
political aspirations and the material interests involved. 

When Pilate thinks "kingdom" he sees only so many Roman 
legions, winning so many victories a%such a cost, and extend- 
ing the boundaries of the empire a little farther. He con- 
ceives only of so many taxes, so much graft, and a governor's 
job, safely held down by himself with increasing revenues 
and growing favor at the imperial court. 

When Pilate thinks "service," he sees a slave on his knees 
or running with haste to do the will of his master, and what 
he is doing is entirely for the comfort of the master with 
no thought for the welfare either of the slave or of society. 
Pilate's ideal of life is a well-fed body, freedom from dis- 
comfort, friends and resources that he can use for the promo- 
tion of his own purposes, and no grim or threatening fear to 
disturb him. 

He has a native sense of justice and a dim yearning for 
truth. They might have made him a true father of his coun- 
try {pater patrice) if they had been exercised nobly in the 
realm of a different ideal. As it was, they were held rigidly 
in the bonds of his selfish and material view of the world 
and they were unable to do more than flutter occasionally into 
ineffective expression. 

So Pilate is the outstanding example of what is often 
called "the material mind." We hardly stop to think of his 
grosser sins, because the complete absorption of his interest 
and action in the physical here and now is so apparent. 
Everything follows from this. 

On the other hand, Jesus thinks and acts in another world, 
absolutely different from that of Pilate. He refers everything 
to a spiritual standard. His own comfort and advantage 
never are thought of for a moment. He seeks only to promote 

128 



JESUS AXD PILATE [XI-c] 

one great cause. He is the organizer of the kingdom of 
spiritual energy, human good-will, and the welfare of the soul. 
Jesus' world does not ignore Rome ; but it puts it in its right 
relation to the justice and love which it ought to serve. There 
are no words that can adequately represent what it means 
to hold the conception that the content of this universe is 
really spiritual and that God rather than ourselves is the 
center of it all. As a matter of practical life, we are still 
living very largely in the old universe of Ptolemy and his 
astronomy, which set our little earth at the center of the 
universe. 

So when Jesus thinks "kingdom" he has no notion of kings 
and armies and revenues in the material sense of these words. 
He is seeing the life of man brought into a reasonable and 
happy order in which love furnishes the law for conduct, in 
which all action is unselfish, and the golden rule which he 
gave is bringing the golden age of which men dream. He 
dares to maintain that good-will is stronger than all the 
armies and navies of the world, and that men can be loved 
and led into high living, but never can be beaten or driven 
into it. 

When Jesus thinks "service," he has in mind no group of 
cringing slaves giving their lives in order to make a strong 
man comfortable. He thinks of strong men giving their 
best in order that weak men may be made stronger. He thinks 
of every talent and every gift as justifying its possession only 
through the higher ministry that it can render to the good of 
all. 

It is unfortunate that we must use the word "kingdom" 
in the effort to interpret Jesus' ideal of life. Perhaps it is 
set forth better by the term "commonwealth." Its aim is not 
the establishment of a monarch or a civilization by force, but 
the attainment of the highest welfare of all in common, the 
commonwealth of good-will. And this is not gained when 
political conditions are stable, taxes low, and every factory 
running on full time. All these conditions may obtain and 
the commonwealth of good- will may still be far away. Jesus 
goes beneath all these external conditions, and outlines the 
creating causes of this desired result. These are found in the 
motives of men; they exist in the heart. Love and justice 
and service are the ruling principles of this world-order. 
There is nothing permanent in mere externals ; only God and 

129 



[XI-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

goodness endure forever and establish the commonwealth of 
good-will. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

i. In what ways in our everyday life do we confuse our 
sense of values and standards, as the Pharisees did when they 
kept ceremonially clean while causing the death of Jesus? 

2. What is the danger of prejudice in our everyday life? 

3. Give, other illustrations of the way in which finding a 
common antagonist will unite former foes. 

4. What were the qualities which ought to have commended 
Jesus to the people as Pilate said, "Behold, the man !" and 
what were the reasons that led them to cry, "Crucify him"? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

Pilate 

1. Selfishly seeking for imperial favor and anxious only 
that his own interests be promoted. 

2. Hating the Jews, scorning their religion, annoyed at 
their intrusions and demands, ready to "get even" at any cost. 

3. The great "neutral," playing fast and loose with his per- 
sonal responsibility for insisting that justice should be done 
in Jesus' case. 

4. Adroit in personal revenge and clever in the use of 
sarcasm. 

5. A supreme coward. 

Jesus 

1. Perfectly self-controlled under trial; silent when speech 
was useless ; ready to speak when it was necessary to define 
or defend the truth. 

2. Mocked, abused, and scorned, but never retaliating. 

3. Keeping his spiritual ideals and loyalty at the cost of 
death. 

4. Obedient to the will of God in every situation. 



130 



CHAPTER XII 

Jesus and the Group at the Cross 

DAILY READINGS 

Twelfth Week, First Day: "The Soldiers" 

The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, 
took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier 
a part; and also the coat: now the coat was without seam, 
woven from the top throughout. — John 19: 23, 24. 

The crucifixion of a condemned criminal was an operation 
involving intense physical suffering; but these were rude, 
harsh times, and the sight of torture and death was fre- 
quent and familiar. Human hearts are not made of steel, 
however ; these soldiers must have been moved by some degree 
of sympathy, although they did their cruel work in accord 
with their official duty. They had no ill-will toward Jesus 
personallv; thev were merelv agents of others in what they 
did. 

We surely get into strange mix-ups in balancing official 
and private duties and relationships. Within the past few 
years literally millions of men have wounded other millions 
of men against whom they have had no personal ill-will. 
They would have been good neighbors and happy friends if 
the}- had been free from representative responsibility. But 
guns were placed in their hands, and the}- were set to killing 
one another on account of antagonisms which were national 
and not individual. We are all under the control of these 
larger representative responsibilities. One of the most urgent 
problems in our everyday life is the adjustment of our in- 
dividual desire and our representative responsibility. 

The only way to solve this difficulty is to place life under the 
control of God's will as Jesus did. War will not cease be- 
cause soldiers "come out of the trenches/' but because reason 

131 



[XII-2] MEETING THE MASTER 

and love prevail so generally that men will decide to settle 
international problems by arbitration rather than by battle. 
Our supreme duty is to work as soldiers of the common good, 
to remove crucifixions of every kind from the practice of 
humanity. This is a campaign which will call for all the 
resources in reason, wisdom, mutual sympathy, toleration, and 
patience, that we can possibly muster. 

Twelfth Week, Second Day : "The Crowd" 

And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their 
heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and 
buildest it in three days, save thyself: if thou art the Son 
of God, come down from the cross. — Matt. 27: 39, 40. 

The crowd frequented places of execution in those days. 
The reputation of Jesus undoubtedly made Calvary a center 
of unusual attraction. The unique title above the cross in- 
creased interest. The crowd took up the insulting phrases 
which would mock the Master most bitterly. As in the case 
of almost every insult, a perverted truth lay behind the taunt. 
It was because he was Son of God that he was carrying his 
life program through to the bitter end; it was because he did 
have complete power over his life that he was so devoting 
his body to the will of God. The people did not understand 
that they were perverting into an insult that which has become 
in the end the very glory of Jesus. 

Very likely there were men in the crowd who had been 
loudest among the shouters on Palm Sunday. Perhaps there 
were even those who had personally experienced the Master's 
gift of health. How strangely fickle is the mind and mood 
of the mob ! 

Jesus furnishes us the true principle to guide us in our 
relation to the crowd. He was sensitive to the appeal of the 
public. We noted this in his response to the needs of the 
five thousand who were hungry. He reacted helpfully and 
quickly to the temper of the people around him. 

But it is one thing to appreciate and respond to a popular 

situation with unselfish service; it is quite another thing to 

be a time-server with your "ear to the ground," veering with 

every wind and losing your power of resolute action at the 

whim of the mob. Jesus gives us a great example of the 

v 
132 



JESUS AND THE GROUP AT THE CROSS [XII-3] 

right balance between indifference to popular sentiment and 
bondage to it. Nothing but clear vision and constant self- 
control will enable us to keep our individuality and initiative 
along with our quick response to popular needs. 

Twelfth Week, Third Day: "The Priests" 

In like manner also, the chief priests mocking him, with 
the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he 
cannot save. He is the King of Israel; let him now come 
down from the cross, and we will believe on him. He 
trusteth on God; let him deliver him now, if he desireth 
him: for he said, I am the Son of God. — Matt. 27: 41-43. 

The insults of the priests and scribes mingled with those 
of the crowd. Three phrases in their sarcastic remarks are 
worthy of note : "he saved others" ; ''he is the king of Israel" ; 
"he trusteth on God." Study the character of Jesus as it is 
revealed in these in stilts of his enemies, and note how un- 
consciously they paid the highest possible tribute to the Mas- 
ter's life and work. 

He saved others — this truly reveals the popular judgment 
of the centuries. Out of the mouth of his bitterest enemies 
comes the proof of the beneficent life of Jesus. 

He was and is the King of all loyal, loving hearts. We do 
not think of Israel in the racial, but in the spiritual sense 
in this connection. Jesus Christ is the true Sovereign of all 
who are living in vital relations with God. 

Jesus trusted God — from the first d*ay of his ministry until 
his work closed on Calvary, Jesus never let go his hold on 
his Father. God was the object of his thought, love, and serv- 
ice. He gave himself completely to the Father ; he kept back 
no reserves of affection or loyalty. He was God's man. Com- 
plete the picture thus drawn in rugged lines. 

The peril of the priesthood is that it degenerates into priest- 
craft. Unless he fights against it, the man in a place of official 
religious responsibility tends to become the defender of 
privilege and the guardian of prejudice, a religious "stand- 
patter." The priests could not understand Jesus. He dared 
to read new meanings into the sacred law, to compare what 
had been said to men long ago with what God was«now saying 
through his living lips. This was revolutionary. Jesus re- 

133 



[XII-4] MEETING THE MASTER 

garded the healing of a sick man as of more importance than 
the literal observance of a Sabbath rule which made it a reli- 
gious crime to carry a burden on that day. He put men in 
a scale of higher values than sheep. The priests could not get 
on with it. 

There is no more striking warning against religious bigotry 
than this final meeting of the priests of the old and new 
covenants on Calvary. These men were earnest, devoted, 
mistaken bigots, made cruel by the faith that should have 
made them kind, because they had lost the power of priest- 
hood in the curse of priestcraft. Beware when officialism 
usurps the place of the religion of the spirit! 

Twelfth Week, Fourth Day : "The Two Robbers" 

And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on 
him, saying, Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us. 
But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Dost thou 
not even fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemna- 
tion? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward 
of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And 
he said, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy 
kingdom. — Luke 23: 39-42. 

Two robbers were condemned to die in company with the 
noblest, bravest man that ever lived. It is the most shocking 
contrast of history. 

The first robber joins in the mockery of the crowd and the 
priests, although his sarcasm takes a different form of expres- 
sion. He urges Jesus to save himself and his comrades in 
suffering, on the ground of self-interest. Note how he puts 
it — "thyself and us." It is a clear and striking picture of the 
utterly selfish disposition. 

The second robber is unlike his comrade. In the hour of 
his extremity he has turned to God and grown conscious of 
his guilt. He has no argument against the justice of his 
condemnation. He presents no excuses, and urges no criticism 
of his judges. He appeals to Jesus to be remembered in the 
kingdom of the spirit, into which within a few hours they 
must come together. The outstanding features of his experi- 
ence are vividly represented—his sense of God, his conscious- 
ness of his sin, and his trust in Christ. 

Jesus meets the supreme experience of life with no sense 

134 



JESUS AND THE GROUP AT THE CROSS [XII-5] 

of sin, and with no rebellion against his Father. He sums 
it all up in his gracious promise to his penitent comrade: 
"Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." To be with Christ 
evidently means to share his love and spirit, and to be one 
with him in purpose and service. 

Thus three men died on crosses one afternoon on Calvary ; 
but they were practically an infinite distance apart. One 
robber died with the spirit of rebellion still regnant in him; 
one robber died with the gleam of a divine promise shining 
before him; Jesus died, the Son of God, triumphant over 
pain. 

Twelfth Week, Fifth Day: "Mary" 

These things therefore the soldiers did. But there were 
standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's 
sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple 
standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, 
Woman, behold, thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, 
Behold, thy mother! And from that hour the disciple 
took her unto his own home. — John 19: 25-27. 

Why did not these women keep away from the spectacle 
of human pain which those crosses presented? Mothers 
never do this when their children are in trouble. Mary and 
her friends were as close to the cross as they could come, 
where they might give any possible courage or comfort to the 
beloved sufferer. 

And Mary's devotion to Jesus was matched by his care for 
her. He saw her in spite of his pain, and he thought of her 
welfare more than he did of his own anguish. It is an 
exquisite touch in the life of Jesus, revealing the tenderness 
and loyalty of his devotion to his mother. 

There is no more delicate touchstone to determine the worth 
of character than loyalty to father and mother. The man who 
forgets his mother, the woman who is careless regarding her 
father, betrays a fatal weakness in character. Boys and girls 
pass through a time of carelessness in their development, 
when they are likely to forget to be thoughtful and affectionate 
to their parents. Mothers sometimes suffer deeply as they 
see their boys break off their old confiding habits and grow 
distant, unresponsive, and sometimes even brutally unmindful 

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[XII-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

of the old affectionate expressions of childhood. It is a 
hard time for the boy also. His apparent coldness is gen- 
erally not such; in his heart he is as loving and loyal as he 
ever was. The old ways of expressing his love, however, seem 
childish and unreal, so he is silent and reserved. He needs 
love and patience and sympathy. 

This scene on Calvary is a revelation of the true relations 
between a mother and her son. How long since you wrote 
your mother the kind of a love letter that causes you a little 
choke in the throat? How long since you kissed your father 
and told him that never a day goes by without your thanking 
him in your heart for what he has done for you? Do not 
be afraid of sentiment. It is the most manly, womanly act 
possible to give our parents the devotion of our hearts with 
unreserved expression. 

Twelfth Week, Sixth Day: "The Centurion" 

And when the centurion, who stood by over against 
him, saw that he so gave up the ghost, he said, Truly 
this man was the Son of God. — Mark 15: 39. 

The centurion who commanded the detail of soldiers en- 
trusted with the execution of Jesus had doubtless seen many 
a death under similar circumstances. There is a graphic 
quality in the simple words, "stood by over against him." 
One can almost see the sturdy figure of the mail-clad officer 
with his arms folded across his chest, strongly poised on his 
feet, watching the scene to the end. 

"Socrates died like a philosopher; Jesus Christ like a God." 
There must have been something in the majesty of the end 
which brought home to the centurion's mind and heart the 
true character of Jesus on the cross. Exactly what the Roman 
captain meant by the term, the "Son of God" we may not be 
able to tell, but surely it was the ascription to Jesus of a 
character which is in every way adequate to these exalted 
words. 

We do not get the impression of Jesus from the New Testa- 
ment as a pale "man of sorrows." He is a carpenter, with a 
physical body so well developed that he is able to meet the 
terrific strain of his active ministry, and of the last week 
of his earthly life without collapse. He lives normally, in 

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JESUS AND THE GROUP AT THE CROSS [XII-7] 

healthy fashion. He is a welcome guest at a feast and in 
a home. 

Have we come into a place of thoughtful observation where 
we have watched Jesus as closely as this centurion did? Does 
it seem to you that you would like to be the kind of a 
person that Jesus was ? Our thought about Christ is more 
than our theology; it is the definition of our personal duty 
and the standard of our daily living. One may have the 
highest doctrinal ideas about Christ, and yet miss the prac- 
tical use of them as standards of action in everyday life. 
We must make good with our doctrines about him by living 
a Christ-like life. 

Twelfth Week, Seventh Day: "The Friends Afar 
Off" 

And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed 
with him from Galilee, stood afar off, seeing these things. 
— Luke 23: 49. 

Here we discern the most distant friendly circle in the 
group about the cross. Jesus was in the hands of the Roman 
officers, and no help could reach him on the cross. So the 
group of distant friends stood in a condition of balance be- 
tween the centripetal force of love drawing them toward their 
Master, and the centrifugal force of sorrow driving them 
away from the agony of his death. What did they talk about 
as they watched and waited for the end? Did some of them 
expect that a miracle might still take place, and that the 
heavenly hosts would rescue their Lord and inaugurate the 
divine kingdom of love and good will? There they stand, 
unable to help, unwilling to go away. 

This group in the distance around the cross stands for 
that great circle of "his acquaintance" who follow a master 
whom they do not quite understand, and want to be counted 
for a cause that they hardly quite dare openly to champion. 
They are in every college and church and community. They 
are just far enough from the center so that they do not 
count. They lack the affirmative mood. 

In these years when men have been suffering and dying 
by the millions for their native land and their ideal of free- 
dom, those who bear the Christian name must not be less 

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[XII-c] MEETIXG THE MASTER 

positively loyal and brave. We belong among those who 
stand at the very center of loyal service to Jesus Christ. 
Out on the distant margin of the scene gather the reluctant 
and timid souls. Our place is not there. 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

It is impossible not to wonder what may have been the 
influence of the seamless coat of Jesus which one of the 
soldiers was successful in winning. Did the owner remember 
how the man w T ho had formerly worn it died? May we sup- 
pose that, through the silent influence of this memory, he 
some time later became convinced that Jesus was more than 
a condemned criminal and made the great decision to follow 
Christ? It is only a fancy, but surely it is not an idle one. 

The fine quality of the Master's friendship for John appears 
in the study this week. We often test friendship by the serv- 
ice that it is glad to render. But there is another w T ay in 
which to prove its worth. It is a true mark of friendship 
when one is ready not only to give something, but also to 
ask that something be given. Many a friend carries his 
loyalty so far that he is ready to give his best to his comrade ; 
but is he also ready to ask his friend to make a sacrifice 
for him? There could be no finer proof of Jesus' love for 
John than the fact that he asked John to take upon himself 
the care of Mary. We sometimes test our loyalty to Christ 
by asking if we are ready to do something for him ; are we 
also willing, in complete confidence, to let him do something 
for us? 

The study is full of suggestions concerning the way in which 
personal desires and acts are changed by official and repre- 
sentative responsibility. The centurion, the soldiers, the 
priests, and many in the crowd did at the cross officially or 
under the sway of the mob what they never w T ould have done 
if they had been dealing with Jesus as man to man. It is 
hardly possible to think of any normal man who would 
deliberately nail the body of another to a cross ; if these priests 
and citizens who shouted their insults to the silent Sufferer 
on the cross had met Jesus quietly and walked with him 
through the fields, the majority of them would have felt 
that they might fairly be called his friends and they would 
have parted in utmost good will. For when two people with 

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JESUS AND THE GROUP AT THE CROSS [XII-c] 

honest hearts free from prejudice meet each other with noth- 
ing to divide them, each generally respects and soon likes 
the other. But it is the crowd and the official point of view 
that come in to break the natural kindness of our relations 
with one another. One of the most difficult situations that we 
have to manage is the keeping of ourselves free from the 
prejudices which arise because we are really not our individual 
selves in our dealings with others ; we are ourselves plus 
some official responsibility or vested interest or traditional 
pre-judgment. Why cannot we, as simple and friendly human 
beings, deal with each other according to the elementary 
principles of good-will and justice and mercy? As a matter 
of fact we do not; and so much are we a part of the past, 
so much do we receive from training and our immediate 
surroundings, that we seldom if ever meet one another in 
this way. Xo fellow-man or group of fellow-men, acting 
according to the finest instincts of their souls, sent Jesus 
to the cross. It was mob judgment and official or representa- 
tive zeal which did it. Above all, therefore, let us try to rid 
ourselves of the shackles of custom and bondage to external 
standards, and do our best to deal with one another accord- 
ing to the fundamental principles of mutual respect and 
kindness. 

Another item worth careful study is the power of a brave 
consistent life to convince men of the truth that it represents. 
We know nothing of the education or mental gifts of the cen- 
turion. He may have been at home in philosophy and the 
religious discussions of the day. But the force that made 
the indelible impression upon his mind was the heroic life 
and death of Jesus. He saw how the robbers died; he saw 
Jesus meet the supreme experience of human life. He knew 
that the Master had something which he never had seen be- 
fore in the case of a dying man. He did not stop for 
definitions. He knew that Jesus had died in the way that 
God would want a man to pass out of his mortal life. He 
reasoned instantly to the conclusion that only a man whose 
life purposes were at one with those of God could do this. 
So out of his observation and intuitive reasoning on the 
matter he framed his proposition. He was sure that this 
man must be the true Son of God. It was the life and 
death of Jesus which created the doctrine about him. 

If only we might force ourselves through all the words 

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[XII-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

that have been spoken about Jesus to the very presence of the 
Master himself, we too would surely find the truth that all 
the creeds have been struggling to express and which the 
centurion put into words. We would be able to understand 
then how it was the real life and character of Jesus which 
gave origin to all the teachings about him. And we would 
be saved from the danger of getting the theory into the place 
of the fact. We would discover Jesus as he walked with his 
disciples, talked with his friends, and finally died on the 
cross. The moral and spiritual beauty of his character would 
be seen as the outgrowth of his real, his utterly genuine life. 
Then we should truly meet the Master ourselves as the men 
of his day knew and loved him. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

1. How does war and the martial spirit tend to lower regard 
for human life? 

2. Does official responsibility tend to make one conservative? 
Why? How is this especially true in religion? Give examples. 

3. How does loyalty to father and mother test character? 

4. What is the permanent attractiveness in the cross of 
Christ? 

OUTLINE SKETCHES 

The Soldiers 

1. Trained in the school of heartless warfare. Coarse and 
harsh ; yet doubtless with human sympathies beneath rough 
exteriors. 

2. Dividing the "rake-off" which fell to them and prudent 
in disposing of the most valuable part. 

The Crowd 

1. Its changeful temper. 

2. Its biting scorn. 

3. Its merciless demands. 

The Priests 

1. Genuinely zealous for religion, perverted by their official- 
ism. 

2. Blinded as to the real values of life by their bigotry. 

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JESUS AXD THE GROUP AT THE CROSS [XII-c] 

The Robbers 

i. Receiving the just penalty of their crimes. 

2. One made hard, the other penitent, by suffering. 

Mary and John 

i. The suffering mother, close to the cross. 

2. The object of Jesus' love and tender care. 

3. The loyal disciple taking a son's place. 

The Centurion 

1. A typical Roman officer, experienced, calculating, cold. 

2. Responding to an example of true spiritual loyalty with 
an honest confession of conviction. 

The Friends Afar Off 

1. Unable to help and forced to watch what they could 
not prevent. 

Jesus 

1. The Victim of intense physical suffering. 

2. Loving his own unto the end. 

3. Forgiving the penitent even at the end of his life. 

4. Meeting in silence the insults of the crowd. 

5. Enduring without reply the sneers of the priests. 

6. The suffering and divine Redeemer. 



141 



CHAPTER XIII 

Jesus the Man and the Master 

The purpose of this final study is to present, not only 
from the scenes and teachings which we have passed in re- 
view during the preceding twelve lessons, but also from other 
sources in the gospels, an outline sketch of the character of 
Jesus. Throughout the study we shall be guided by our sense 
of the vitality in Jesus. That is, our point of view is not 
primarily what the Christian Church has said about Jesus ; 
we wish to make objectively vivid and attractive that real 
person, Jesus of Nazareth, who asked men and women to 
become his friends, learn the secret of his life, and finally 
embody his master motives in those purposes from which 
they would act habitually in their daily life. It is a genuine 
man, doing his work in the world and living his life among 
his comrades, whom we shall now attempt to bring before 
our minds. 

DAILY READINGS 

Thirteenth Week, First Day: "The Physical Fit- 
ness of Jesus" 

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come 
out, as against a robber, with swords and staves to seize 
me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and 
ye took me not: but this is done that the scriptures might 
be fulfilled. And they all left him, and fled. — Mark 14: 
48-50. 

And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, 
that is to say, The place of a skull, they gave him wine to 
drink mingled with gall; and when he had tasted it, he 
would not drink. — Matt. 27: 33, 34. 

There is relatively little in the New Testament by which we 
can determine the physical health or habits of Jesus. What 
we gather comes incidentally from the narratives. The im- 
pression is clear, however, that Jesus possessed a body that 
was unimpaired by any vicious habits. He had apparently 

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JESUS THE MAN AND THE MASTER [XIII-2] 

been trained in physical labor, and he was able to endure the 
strain of his intense public life without breaking down at any 
point. 

Our passages today show him in two situations : first, en- 
during the mill of nerve-racking work day after day, and, 
second, meeting a crisis in such perfect composure that the 
effect of it was practically overwhelming to those who had 
been sent to arrest him. He could not have endured the 
nervous strain of daily teaching, or have passed through the 
physical trial of his last week, unless he had been physically 
fit for the ordeal. 

The second passage shows Jesus at the critical moment when 
his executioners were about to place him on the cross, re- 
fusing to take the wine and bitter herbs which would dull 
his sensibilities and act as a mild anaesthetic. He was ready 
to meet the last mortal experience with his physical powers 
unimpaired by a drug. He knew what he could do with his 
body, and what his body would do for him. He could trust 
his own nerves. In the language of St. Francis, he had faith 
in the steadfastness of "Brother Body." 

The question often has beenTaised as to whether the body 
helps the spirit more than the spirit helps the body. Actually 
each is necessary to the other so far as the efficiency of our 
everyday life is concerned. Neither can be ignored without 
the other suffering. There has been a tendency in some forms 
of Christian teaching to disparage the physical, but this re- 
ceives no warrant from Jesus. He brought his religion to 
bear directry upon his physical organism. He did not worry, 
and thereb} 7 throw his physical functions in disorder. He 
lost no sleep through fear. He was able to sleep in a boat 
when a storm was whipping the lake into fury. We shall be 
able to work longer hours in a calmer mood when we take 
Jesus' attitude toward God. Does your religion give you more 
power to control your nerves? Would the fact that you are 
a CJiristian make you a better risk to a life insurance com- 
pany? 

Thirteenth Week, Second Day: "The Self-Control 
of Jesus" 

And it came to pass, when the days were well-nigh come 
that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face 

143 



[XIII-2] MEETING THE MASTER 

to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face: 
and they went, and entered into a village of the Samari- 
tans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive 
him, because his face was as though he were going to 
Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw 
this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we bid fire to come 
down from heaven, and consume them? But he turned, 
and rebuked them. And they went to another village. — 
Luke 9: 51-56. 

It is not easy to attain complete self-mastery in a situation 
where one is receiving personal insult. Jesus had experienced 
the hatred and sarcasm of a Samaritan; but he had conquered 
by his good- will and patience. (See Chapter II.) Now he 
meets another case of religious hatred and bigotry. Hos- 
pitality was a fundamental Oriental virtue and Jesus had the 
right to expect that his reasonable request would be fairly met. 
And probably it would have been if it had not appeared that 
he was a Jew on his way to Jerusalem. That settled the 
matter. The people in the village closed their doors against 
him. 

The impetuous disciples lost their temper in a moment. 
They remembered what their sacred books said about the 
action of Elijah under similar circumstances. (See II Kings 
1 : 10-12.) But Jesus had himself completely in hand. He 
would not answer in kind. He rebuked the disciples for their 
spirit of revenge. The margin contains an interesting addition 
that is found in many old texts. "Ye know not what manner 
of spirit ye are of," he is reported to have said to them. 
They did not understand the greater strength which led 
Jesus to pass on quietly and kindly to the next town, where 
he might find a place to rest his tired body. 

One reason why so many Christians lose out at critical 
moments is because they cannot control themselves under the 
circumstances. The moment anyone makes you hate him and 
thus become vindictive, he has proven himself stronger than 
you. For to hate or despise anyone is to let yourself escape 
the firm control of love and good-will ; therefore, it is to 
become gradually weakened and finally defeated. Our reli- 
gion must bring us constant help in mastering ourselves. To 
lose one's temper, to display a vindictive spirit, to go to 
pieces in a practical situation, is to fail to realize the power 
of the Christian ideal. 

144 



JESUS THE MAN AND THE MASTER [XIII-3] 

When we are ruled by the spirit of Christ we are enabled 
to control our passions and to master ourselves as he did. 
The world judges us with instant accuracy in this respect, 
and pronounces its judgment relentlessly. We may be loud 
in our expressions of personal loyalty to Christ; but unless 
we bring ourselves under the sway of Jesus' motive of love, 
we shall never convince our fellows that we are his disciples. 
Christ can help us rule our spirits. He will make us our own 
masters if we will work with him to that end. 



Thirteenth Week, Third Day: "The Sincerity of 
Jesus" 

And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the 
sabbath day. And behold, a woman that had a spirit of 
infirmity eighteen years; and she was bowed together, 
and could in no wise lift herself up. And when Jesus saw 
her, he called her, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed 
from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands upon her: 
and immediately she was made straight, and glorified 
God. And the ruler of the synagogue, being moved with 
indignation because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, 
answered and said to the multitude, There are six days 
in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and 
be healed, and not on the day of the sabbath. But the 
Lord answered him, and said, Ye hypocrites, doth not 
each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass 
from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And 
ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, 
whom Satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years, to have 
been loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath? 
And as he said these things, all his adversaries were put 
to shame: and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious 
things that were done by him. — Luke 13: 10-17. 

It is difficult to imagine a religious custom so stupidly il- 
logical as that displayed by the ruler of the synagogue. The 
patiently suffering woman had been bent over with her disease 
for eighteen years. Jesus had spoken the words which had 
helped her. The ruler of the synagogue could say nothing 
against the fact of her cure; but he was highly indignant 
at the time it was accomplished. It was the Sabbath day, 
sacred to the worship of Jehovah, and consecrated to the 

145 



[XIIL-4] MEETING THE MASTER 

ceremonies of religion. Jesus had not seemed to regard this 
fact duly. He cured the woman on the sacred day. 

Of course he did. Jesus was so utterly sincere and con- 
sistent in his thought and practice that he could not endure 
the stupid complications of a legal and ceremonial religion. 
It was necessary in the nature of the case to permit the 
watering of cattle on the Sabbath. Here was a woman in 
the clutch of disease. How much more she was worth than 
an ox ! As a matter of duty and privilege, her cure was more 
important than the watering of all the cattle in Palestine. 

How fine it is to see a courageous man break through the 
foolishness and inconsistency of conventional standards and 
go straight to the center of a moral and religious situation 
by the insight of a perfectly sincere spirit. Jesus always was 
doing this. His logic was invincible because his soul was 
utterly sincere. 

The word "sincerity" may get its primitive meaning from 
the custom of finishing wood by the means of wax in such a 
way that it would appear to be what it was not. Wood, 
which was not treated thus and so appeared exactly what it 
was, was called "without wax" {sine cera) or sincere. So 
the quality of sincerity in human character is simple genuine- 
ness with nothing to mask it or give it a false appearance. It 
is rugged honesty. It is freedom from artifice, pretence, sham, 
or cant of any kind. v 

Religious thought and life are most susceptible to the vice 
of insincerity. Pretence may be used for a long time to cover 
up motives which are false. In the end, however, it is utterly 
fatal. The moral masters of mankind have known that their 
cause would be lost if they played fast and loose with truth. 
Let us suffer no sham to find a place in our everyday living. 
Let us put the wholesome sincerity of Jesus at the very center 
of our motives. 

Thirteenth Week, Fourth Day: "The Tenderness 
of Jesus" 

But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And 
who is my neighbor? Jesus made answer and said, A 
certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; 
and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and 
beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by 

146 



JESUS THE MAX AXD THE MASTER [XIII-4] 

chance a certain priest was going down that way: and 
when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And 
in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, 
and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain 
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and 
when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, and 
came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them 
oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought 
him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow 
he took out two shillings, and gave them to the host, 
and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest 
more, I, when I come back again, will repay thee. Which 
of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him 
that fell among the robbers? And he said, He that showed 
mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do 
thou likewise. — Luke 10: 29-37. 

The story with which Jesus answered the somewhat cap- 
tious question of the lawyer, ''And who is my neighbor?" is 
so familiar and its lesson so obvious that comment is un- 
necessary. It expresses with consummate clarity the tender- 
ness of Jesus and his instinctive response to human need of 
every kind. 

Jesus had almost a sixth sense ; it was his power to discern 
the needs of those whom he met and to help them practically. 
An expert sociologist was once described as a man who had 
a "social nose." So Jesus detected the fundamental and 
elementary needs of men with an inerrant instinct. If we 
seek the explanation of this, we shall find that it consists in 
his sincere and constant love. 

The parable brings out the point that it was a person whom 
he naturally would have disliked to whom the Samaritan 
showed kindness. It is easy to be "nice" to those who are 
our own kind and belong in our set. The real test of kindness 
comes when its object would be naturally somewhat forbid- 
ding instead of inviting. 

Contact with life, especially in its more superficial and 
harder aspects, has an inevitable tendency to dull one's sensi- 
tiveness and dry up the native springs of pit}*. It was put 
into bitter words by the brilliant Frenchwoman : "The more 
I know of men, the better I like dogs." Jesus is the great 
example that rebukes this miserable mood. He never failed 
to respond with sympathy and help, when he came into con- 
tact with a human need. 

147 



[XIII-5] MEETING THE MASTER 

To be so highly educated that the sight of ignorance evokes 
only contempt ; to be so strong that contact with weakness 
calls forth no deep desire to help ; to lose the power of moral 
indignation in the presence of sin is to miss the control of 
the Master's passion of tenderness. When Lincoln saw the 
slave market for the first time his young soul revolted with 
the true Christian reaction. He determined on the spot that 
if ever he had the chance to hit that evil thing, he would hit 
it hard. The Russian lady who wept in the warm theater at 
the death of a stage hero while her coachman froze to death 
on the box waiting outside, had not learned the secret of 
Christian tenderness. 

True tenderness, therefore, may often take the form of 
passionate moral indignation. It is pity for that which is 
suffering the final results of evil which inspires the reformer 
to attack. Is our religion making us compassionate, both to 
save and to reform? 

Thirteenth Week, Fifth Day: "The Severity of 
Jesus" 

But woe unto you Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue 
and every herb, and pass over justice and the love of 
God: but these ought ye to have done, and not to leave 
the other undone. Woe unto you Pharisees! for ye love 
the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in 
the marketplaces. Woe unto you! for ye are as the tombs 
which appear not, and the men that walk over them know 
it not. — Luke n: 42-44. 

From the gentleness to the severity of Jesus seems a difficult 
transition. Are they consistent in the same character? Or 
are they contradictory? The answer lies in a study of the 
circumstances. It was the censorious and bigoted Pharisees 
against whom Jesus used some of the severest words ever 
spoken by human lips. For repentant moral transgressors 
and degraded men and women who yet yearned for God 
and truth, Jesus had only gracious words and genuine pardon. 
But for men who posed as religious leaders, and yet were 
cruel and bigoted, Jesus had only the severest censure. This 
does not show any lack of love on his part, Severity under 
these circumstances is the inevitable result of love. The love 

148 



JESUS THE MAX AXD THE MASTER [XIII-6] 

for truth blazing in the heart of a champion determines the 
severity with which he will deal with the foes of his cause. 

The balance of these two tempers is a practical problem. 
When and how far shall each be permitted to find expression? 
Jesus is the great example of the right adjustment of these 
two moods. To show tenderness for all sinning, suffering, 
responsive souls and severity towards all formal, bigoted, 
unloving souls — this is the right way in which to be both 
kind and severe. 

Our modern life needs the restoration of such convictions 
and affections as will make it capable of sterner antagonisms 
than it is now. We need to love the good more, in order 
that we may be stronger haters of the evil. When the forces 
of sin break loose in the community and destroy the most 
valuable possessions we have, does religious conviction rise 
in holy wrath and drive the intruders and destroyers out? 
Perhaps it is not our wealth that is being destroyed ; our chil- 
dren may be safe. But that does not make it none of our 
business. Who cleansed the temple? So far as we know 
Christ had not been robbed personally. But others were being 
robbed and that made it his business. The woman who had 
just paid too much for the pair of doves intended as her offer- 
ing was suffering ; and Jesus suffered with her. 

What is our attitude, therefore, in face of the influences 
in the community that demand reform or expulsion? Dare 
a Christian try to remain neutral and silent? Can the com- 
munity count on the Christian forces to be severe with the 
sin that is eating out its life? 



Thirteenth Week, Sixth Day: "The Loyalty of 
Jesus" 

And he went forward a little, and fell on his face, and 
prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as 
thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth 
them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not 
watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter 
not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the 
flesh is weak. Again a second time he went away, and 
prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pass away, except 
I drink it, thy will be done. And he came again and found 

149 



[XIII-6] MEETING THE MASTER 

them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And he left 
them again, and went away, and prayed a third time, say- 
ing again the same words. — Matt. 26: 39-44. 

Three times in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus proved his 
loyalty to the will of God. There are few passages in the 
Bible more pathetic than the Master's words, "The spirit in- 
deed -rs willing, but the flesh is weak." Jesus loved life as 
much as any man who ever lived. The stars in the sky were 
beautiful to him, the wind from the hills was sweet, and the 
laughter of little children was music. Jesus did not want to 
give these up any more than any strong man at thirty-three 
would be ready to surrender them all without a regret. 
Gethsemane meant real struggle and sacrifice. 

But Jesus had set out to do one thing in this world, namely, 
to follow the will of God to the limit, wherever it should 
lead him and whatever it should cost. He felt that a divine 
purpose was calling him to prove even in the bitter last experi- 
ence of physical death that his ideal would "work." He 
never could show the world the meaning of God's Fatherhood 
and prove what it means to be a Son of the Father without 
going loyally all the way to Calvary. So he prayed that he 
might be free from the experience if it were possible, but 
for loyalty to carry him through to the end if he must do it. 
The first item in the prayer was not answered. The second 
was. Jesus was kept steadfast to the moment of his death. 
And so he becomes our perfect example and Master through 
his loyalty to the Father. 

This simple word loyalty gathers up in a concise way the 
central fact in religion. It means simple trustworthiness and 
abiding devotion. Our Christian life rests in loyalty to the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in loyalty to Christ 
himself as our Master, and then, as a consequence, in loyalty 
to our own highest Christian ideal and to one another as 
brothers in the commonwealth of good will. 

Test the application of your religion to the fact of every- 
day life according to this standard. Did your religion make 
you a more reliable worker yesterday? Can you be trusted 
more implicitly by your f ellowmen because you are a Christian ? 
When the community makes an inventory of those upon whom 
they may surely count for the common good, is your name in 
the list? 

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JESUS THE MAN AND THE MASTER [XIII-7] 

Thirteenth Week, Seventh Day: "The Majesty of 
Jesus" 

In that very hour there came certain Pharisees, saying 
to him, Get thee out, and go hence: for Herod would fain 
kill thee. And he said unto them, Go and say to that fox, 
Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures to-day and 
to-morrow, and the third day I am perfected. Nevertheless 
I must go on my way to-day and to-morrow and the day 
following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of 
Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the 
prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how 
often would I have gathered thy children together, even 
as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and 
ye would not! — Luke 13: 31-34. 

Every reader of the gospels will select such particular 
passages as seem to him best to express the majesty of Jesus' 
character. In choosing the passage for today we have thought 
that no finer expression of his greatness could be found than 
this disclosure of his steadfast purpose and high sense of 
mission. 

Following the marginal reading, we paraphrase the passage 
thus : "I do my God-given work today and tomorrow, and 
the third day I end my course. Nevertheless I go on my way, 
today and tomorrow, and the day following." What could 
be more majestic, more lofty, more sacred, than a life that 
is thus divinely mastered, determined to go on, doing that 
which is God's will, undistracted and undeterred by anything 
that the days can bring or men can do? This is the very 
essence of heroism. This is the supreme elevation of human 
character. On such a level the life of a man moves among 
those serene heights which are radiant and sublime. 

In this wonderful statement of his purpose — a passage which 
is not often read and therefore is somewhat unfamiliar — the 
Master stands forth in the sublimity and simplicity of his 
dedicated and beneficent life. The vision which we catch of 
his character in these words is like the summits of the Alps 
flushed with morning splendor. Jesus is majestic and divine 
in such a moment of self-discovery. 

Jesus is simply too great to be ignored in the personal life 
of any thoughtful man or woman. We cannot omit hunger, 

I5i 



[XIII-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

we cannot leave out the stars, we cannot pass by love, and we 
cannot ignore Jesus Christ, when we try to give an account of 
the universe in which we live. Sometimes a student or a 
busy man or woman in the midst of a crowded life tries to 
avoid the challenge of the world's moral and spiritual Master. 
But one cannot do it and be fair to all the facts. Jesus Christ 
is at the center of the life that we are all trying to live, with 
a claim that cannot be ignored. Sooner or later we must 
reckon with it. It is a supreme question. No other test goes 
so surely and with such searching power to the very heart of 
our everyday life as this, "What are you doing with Jesus 
Christ?" This majestic Master stands at the door of the 
soul and demands under the conditions of modern life as 
never before the recognition of his claim and the full loyalty 
of our souls to his personal leadership. 

COMMENT FOR THE WEEK 

In gathering up the impressions of the studies which we 
have been making, we shall seek in conclusion an answer to 
this practical question : What may Jesus Christ mean as a 
source of power to anyone living in the everyday relations 
of the modem world f We are not concerned with theories 
about Christ, except as they become the means through which 
we are really equipped with power. It is practical energy for 
right living that we are seeking. 

Jesus Christ furnishes us our workable idea of God. The 
God that Jesus had is the God whom we too may have. In 
every experience that comes to us, we need only to look at 
the way Jesus met a similar event in his life. Then we find 
that he never lost his hold on God as the power that enabled 
him to meet it courageously and victoriously. The God that 
was real to Jesus is the God who will be real to us, if we will 
act as Jesus did in the corresponding experience. For God 
was real to the Master always ; therefore God will be real 
to us now. There is tremendous power in this if once we 
make it a rule of life. It brings God into our conscious life 
as its central fact. 

Jesus Christ furnishes us the true interpretation of the 
w r orld in which we are living. Before we shall ever be able 
to manage the business of living well, we must make sure that 
it is worth while. There have been countless interpretations 

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JESUS THE MAX AXD THE MASTER [XIII-cJ 

of the meaning of human life; but there is just one that is 
altogether discriminating and true. Jesus had the right idea 
of what it means to live. He understood the significance of 
the passing world of material forms and the enduring world 
of spiritual reality. He set that which was of most impor- 
tance in the center of his habitual activities. When we get 
this idea of the true value and meaning of life, new power 
comes into our daily living. We are sure that it is worth 
while. There are no tasks without meaning and no real 
duties that are not divine in their significance. 

Then Jesus put its true value upon human life. He never 
confused the personal and eternal with the material and the 
perishing. It is impossible to be a follower of Jesus and 
scorn any human life as lacking in interest. Little children 
and cripples are worth more than all the wealth of the mines. 
A budding affection and a swelling hope are more significant 
than all the verdure of the fields ; Jesus said this to his dis- 
ciples at Jacob's well. Bumper crops and crammed elevators 
make a great showing in the activities of Wall Street ; but they 
are far less important than the ideals of the people and the 
justice that underlies the economic system of a nation. The 
power and speed of the great limousine whirling into a cloud 
of dust is far less significant than the quality of the young 
man who holds the steering wheel. Unless he is trustworthy, 
the beautiful car may be only an engine of destruction to 
innocent people. The real values of life are personal, not 
physical. 

Then Jesus shows us what we ought to be ready to do with 
our own lives. It takes nothing from his character and mis- 
sion when we say that the highest personal ideal for every 
individual is to do with his gifts and powers something similar 
to that which Jesus did with his. He sends his disciples into 
the world in order that they may do, each in his own way 
and with his own energies, that which Jesus himself did. How 
could there be a clearer definition of life's master-purpose 
than this? And when once we catch the vision of such a 
life, new strength and courage come to us for the day's work. 
It is impossible to get great results in noble living out of low 
moods and small ideals. But think of trying to do something 
worth while in the world as Christ's representative ! The 
Very idea releases energies that we did not know we possessed. 
We can afford to be patient and work hard. We can meet 

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[XIII-c] MEETING THE MASTER 

whatever may come with the faith that carried Jesus past 
Calvary, for we also know that God is with us. This is not 
a mere theory or groundless vision. Millions of our fellows 
have tried it and made good with it. This is what changed 
Simon into Peter and made a mighty believer out of Thomas. 

And Jesus shows us that there are certain great forces at 
work in this universe that cannot be defeated. Death cannot 
destroy them and enemies cannot frustrate them. It is a 
superb assurance to feel thrilling through one's being that 
he is "doing his bit" on the side of the conquering forces. 
The midnight may shut down upon the battle lines ; we may 
"fight with the scabbard when the sword is broke" ; but finally 
the battle turns to the side of Christ. 

Everyone wants his life to count with the truth and the 
right. But these words are only synonyms for Christ. He 
is winning the campaign, despite the failure of an occasional 
skirmish and the loss of a battle now and then. To be sure 
of this is to get real strength for victorious living. 

Instead of being hard for the modern man to understand 
and follow Christ, never was it so easy to appreciate him and ' 
yield to his claims. He lived and died to show us the Father, 
to reveal the meaning of life, to define our normal course of 
duty, and to give us help to follow in his way. To be loyal 
to him is to win ; to follow him is to be free. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT AND 

STUDY 

1. In what way ought the Christian life to influence sound 
physical health? 

2. Name some of the most insinuating temptations to in- 
sincerity. How large a place does it occupy in modern social 
life? 

3. What conditions in modern life tend to make men harsh 
and unmerciful? What are some of the present day parallels 
to the experience of the man on the Jericho road? 

4. In what ways does modern life test loyalty to Christ? 



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